Homesick
by color.me.lovelessx
Summary: Tony and Pepper's daughter Madelyn just graduated from school. Without her parents knowledge, she managed to land an internship with her dad's business to keep her busy over the summer and to prepare her for what she wants to do with her future. But she isn't the only one with a Stark Enterprises internship—and now she's stuck working with Peter Parker.
1. Chapter 1

_Call it what you want, but I call it growing up._

 _ **I.**_

* * *

Madelyn Joyce Stark was the reason Pepper needed a break from Tony at one point, early into her days working for him. One gala together with Pepper as his plus one resulted in her coming back three years later with his daughter in her terrible twos. Tony slightly resented Pepper for hiding her, but also understood why. He had never wanted children until the first time Madelyn grabbed his finger with her whole hand. His world had changed with her. Ever since Nick Fury had told Tony that he wasn't the only superhero in the world, he had come to learn that villains also came with that territory. He keeps Pepper and Madelyn hidden from the world as much as possible, while making sure the two know how to keep themselves safe.

It's been eight years since the day that Tony became known to the world as Iron Man. Madelyn is now a senior in high school, days away from graduation Midtown School of Science and Technology. Today was her last official day of school, which most seniors were ditching. She, unfortunately, was unable to get out of it thanks to her parents. "You are not ditching school, young lady. You are on scholarship to Empire State, how would that look?" Pepper had said sternly. And so Madelyn sat in her business and economics class with two other students she swore were not even in this class. On the whiteboard, written in black expo marker read the words, 'The real world'.  
"Well, I'm sorry your parents made you come to school," The teacher, Mr. Trudeau said with a chuckle. "So I guess we can have a free pass for the next forty minutes." There was a pause.  
"Mr. Trudeau, why does the whiteboard say 'the real world' when we're just sitting in a room?" One of the only other students asked.  
"Because I didn't expect to have any students today, so I'm just kind of winging it." Madelyn raised her eyebrows in disbelief, but could not help the twinge of a smirk forming on her lips. "So, I guess the question I pose to you all is what are you going to do in the real world once you leave this room?" The two other boys in the class talked of going to out of state universities and majoring in pharmaceutical in technological research. "What about you, Elly?"  
"I am double majoring in anatomy and robotic engineering, and I applied for a summer internship at Stark Enterprises." Mr. Trudeau and the other students raised their eyebrows, the younger ones doing so in disbelief while the teacher raised is in remembrance.

"They have internships? That has got to be impossible to get!" One of the boys exclaimed. Madelyn tried to refrain from rolling her eyes but was unsure if she was successful. She shouldn't be annoyed—these kids didn't know she was a Stark. The administration knew, but the students only knew her as Madelyn Joyce for her safety.  
"Oh that's right." Mr. Trudeau walked behind his desk, opened a drawer and pulled out a letter. He walked over to Elly and handed her an envelope with the Stark Enterprise logo on the front. "This came for you this morning." Madelyn had applied for the internship anonymously through Mr. Trudeau so that her parents had no knowledge of her application's existence; she wanted a fair chance like everyone else. "You can read it at home if you like." Elly shook her head before tearing open the letter and reading it aloud.  
"'To whom it may concern, after thoroughly reviewing your application, Ms. Potts and myself are ecstatic to inform you that you have been selected for the Stark Enterprises Academic internship.' I GOT IT!" Despite being their child, it was still a very exciting accomplishment, especially considering all applications are anonymous to ensure there are no biased selections. The class continued to shoot the breeze, killing whatever time they had left until the bell rang. Elly began packing her things and started to head out.

"Congratulations again, Ms. Stark." Mr. Trudeau said quietly, but just enough for her two lone classmates to hear. Elly just gave a sly smile before heading off to lunch.

Being one of the few seniors that attended school on their official last day, Elly sat in the cafeteria alone with a sketchbook out and a turkey sandwich in hand. Her left hand was scratching along paper as she drew up robotic designs—a hobby she developed from her father. She was constantly trying to come up with new weapons to add on to variations of her dad's Iron Man suits. She ignored younger students as they walked by until she felt someone bump her shoulder. Before she could look up, she felt something cold spill onto her left hand that was still grasping her drawing pencils. Madelyn reacted without thinking and screamed, "Are you KIDDING ME?!" The chubby boy that seemed to be the culprit stared at her in shock. His friends, a young timid looking brunette boy, and a girl with a scowl on her face and a head full beautiful curls, stayed silent. Elly had never seen them before.

"I-I-I am so sorry!" The boy stuttered out. Elly just huffed, throwing her sandwich on the table before stomping away. The underclassmen looked incredibly dumbfounded. "She's scary." The boy, Ned Leeds commented under his breath. The curly haired beauty, Michelle Jones, looked at the spill that Ned had caused, picking up the soaked sketchbook. The page Elly had been working on wasn't entirely destroyed, MJ noted as she began flipping through the journal. The entire notebook was filled with different designs of upgrades of Iron Man's suit, as well as an original design for a sleeker suit, but each page now contained smeared graphite from the spill.

"She's clearly a fan." MJ says as she looks at the sketches.

"Wait, look at the margin notes." The other boy, Peter Parker, said as he took the sketchbook from MJ. "There's actual physics being put into this. Oh man, what if these were projects for her?!" Without saying anything else, Peter took off with the notebook in his hands, chasing after Elly. He managed to catch her coming out of the bathroom and making her way towards the school's exit with a scowl on her face and her chestnut brown hair now up in a sloppy bun. "H-hey! Wait!" He said, trying to get her to stop before she left. She turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. "You left this in there. It looked kind of important." She didn't make any motion to take the sketchbook.

"It's already ruined, I'll have to start from scratch." Elly said bitterly.

"I feel really bad," Said Peter quietly. "I-I could try to recreate them for you and give them to you when I'm done?"

"It's my last day here, I'm a senior." She pointed out blankly, getting him to understand that they would never meet again.

"O-oh."

"It's fine. I'll just work on it at home. Thanks for the offer though…?" She trailed off, realizing she didn't know his name.

"I-I'm Peter, Peter Parker." He held out his hand to shake, which she looked at with a grimace before shaking it anyway.

"Madelyn Joyce, but most people call me Elly." After a brief, awkward pause of silence, Elly bid him farewell before exiting the school. She had had enough of the day and decided to skip the rest of her classes, regardless of what her mom had said to her this morning. Peter just looked dumbfounded, watching after her as she left until she was entirely out of sight. After she was gone, he began flipping through her sketchbook, trying to figure out how he was going to recreate her work.

* * *

Several days had passed since Elly's last day of school. It was finally Saturday; graduation day. Elly's long chestnut brown hair sat in loose waves over her shoulders and she wore a lacy white knee length dress underneath her graduation gown. The graduating class of two thousand sixteen sat in folding chairs in the football field of their school as they awaited for their individual names to be called, shake their principals hand, and receive their little diploma folder so they could finally turn their tassels to the left. Just one more row of students to get through and Elly was finally done. One of the teachers coordinating the event motioned for the row Elly was in to stand and exit towards the right in a single file line to keep everyone in alphabetical order. "...Kaitlin Johnson!" The girl in front of Elly shook the principal's hand as she was handed her diploma. "Madelyn Joyce!" Elly took a cautious step forward, staring at her sandal clad feet before locking eyes with the principal. He mouthed the word 'congratulations' as he shook her hand and handed her diploma. The row that Elly had walked with returned to their seats and waited for the rest of the graduating class to receive their certificates. It only took forty five minutes, she thought with a mental scowl.

"Graduates, please move your tassels over to the left, as your journey here as ended and your forever begins. Family, friends, and faculty; I am proud to present to you, the Midtown School of Science and Technology class of two thousand sixteen!" A large eruption of cheers tumbled throughout the football stadium, the sky now littered with graduation caps. After a couple of announcements, the graduate were able to roam free to take pictures with their fellow classmates and find their families. Elly tried to find her mom and dad, which usually wasn't that difficult, but today it felt like trying to find Waldo and Carmen.

"Elly! Hey, Elly!" At the sound of her name, the brunette turned around to find Peter Parker running up to her. A black leather notebook was in his hands as he slightly panted, trying to catch his breath. "I um..." He held up the notebook before looking at Elly's confused light brown eyes. "I know you told me not to worry about it, but I felt really bad. So I tried to get it done as quickly as possible." Elly took the notebook, realizing it was a leather bound sketchbook, inside a recreation of all the work she had done. Her confusion turned into awestruck.

"W-wow, oh my god. Thank you, Peter. This is amazing. You even got all of my notes and formulas in here." He looked away slightly in discomfort.

"Yeah, thankfully I understood them. Otherwise I would have been worried that I just botched all your projects." Before Peter could say anything else, Tony and Pepper walked up to their daughter, spewing the hugs and congratulations. The smiles stopped once Tony noticed the very confused underclassmen.

"Parker? What are you doing at the graduation ceremony?" He asked, causing Peter to start sputtering incomplete words.

"Dad? Why do you know Peter?" Asked Elly suspiciously.

"D-dad? Oh boy, that makes a lot more sense now." Peter said quietly, referencing the contents of the sketchbook he recreated filled with various weaponry designed for the notorious Iron Man suit. "H-hey, Mr. Stark."

"Answer the question, Parker." By now, Tony had an arm protectively wrapped around his daughter's shoulders while Pepper had one of her arms wrapped around Elly's. They actually looked like a picture perfect family, Peter noted.

"I-I came to give Elly a gift. My friend Ned ruined her sketchbook so I got her a new one and tried to recreate all the pages. They're brilliant, by the way, and it totally makes sense that she's your daughter since she was designing a whole bunch of add ons to your Iron Man—" He was rambling at uncontrollable speeds, his throat filling with anxiety; even more so when he noticed that both father and daughter were wide eyed.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tony stared at his daughter this time, a look on his face that only Elly could decipher. With that look on his face, she knew attempting to hide her secret was futile. She narrowed her eyes in a glare before speaking.

"I wanted to tell you when I got home. I applied for the Stark internship, and you guys actually picked me." She said. Before Tony could answer, Peter started babbling again.

"You're on the Stark internship too? Hey, I guess that kind of means we'll get to work together for the summer!" Elly blinked at Peter then looked at her dad.

"Please tell me you're joking, pops." Tony tutted his tongue in disagreement before going to pat Peter on the back.

"To be fair, honey, he's technically on a grant right now." Pepper took her turn to glare at her boyfriend. She knew what lie Tony fabricated for Peter's aunt May, but it seemed that lie didn't extend to their daughter. "What? He is. Hey, Parker," Tony said quickly, attempting to deflect the attention on him. "Get a picture of us with the graduate." Tony moved back to stand at Elly's left side and wrapped an arm around her waist; Pepper mirrored him, wrapping her arms around her daughter. Elly held her diploma open in one hand and her graduation cap at the top of her head, posing a wide smile. Peter counted to three before taking a burst of shots. The photographer in him began taking over as he had Madelyn take a photo with each parent, then had her pose by herself. "I'm not paying you to develop these, Parker!" Tony said after what must have been the hundredth photo. Pepper let out a laugh before offering to take Tony's phone back from the young boy.

"Now one of you two!" She chirped before gently nudging her daughter towards a confused looking Peter Parker. He incoherently stuttered out polite refusals until Elly's hip touched with his as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, her free hand holding her diploma. The wind blew her light brown locks in his face, allowing him to smell the faint scent of her shampoo. She smelled like mint and vanilla. Unsure of how he should be standing with her, he wrapped an arm around her waist, giving a small side hug as they smiled together. "That's adorable." Pepper said, showing the photo to Tony. "Look at your interns; they're yours for the whole summer, Tony." Iron Man rolled his eyes."

"Please, don't remind me. Which, actually reminds me. This—" He pointed to Peter's arm that, for some unfathomable reason, was still on his daughter's waist. "is going to be kept to a minimum. Or you know, not at all." Immediately at the comment, the young boy retracted his arm away, holding both of his hands up at defeat.

"O-of course not, Mr. Stark." At the exact same time, Elly said,

"Ew, dad. He's like thirteen."

"Hey, I'm fifteen, thank you!" Peter disputed. She rolled her eyes, ignoring his statement before looking at her dad.

"It's not going to happen." Elly replied adamantly.

* * *

A week had passed since Madelyn's graduation and, by the good graces of her father, her mom and herself got to take a small trip to Italy together as a graduation gift. She wished her dad would have joined, but supposedly he had too much work to do. He'd been saying that a lot lately. Still, she enjoyed the getaway with Pepper but now it was time for Elly to return to New York and get to work. Currently the seventeen year old was in her room unpacking her suitcase when a knock was heard upon her open door. She looked up from the ground to see her dad standing in the door way. He was holding the leather sketchbook Peter had given to her at graduation, flipping through the various pages.

"Uh, hey dad." Elly said with a twinge of confusion. "Why are you going through my notebook?" He shrugged indifferently.

"Parker said you had some designs in here, thought I'd check them out." Tony was now sitting on her queen sized bed, still flipping through the pages while she unpacked. "These are great, by the way. Might steal a few or all of them." Elly laughed before playfully throwing one of her shirts at her dad's head.

"Speaking of Parker, what is this mysterious grant you have him on?" When Tony said nothing, Elly paused from her unpacking, she looked at him expectantly.

"Actually, kiddo, that's your first assignment as an intern. He needs a suit."

"Excuse me?"

"We've got a lot to go over. Come on, let's go to the lab." Tony stood up and began walking out of her bedroom, waiting for her to follow behind. "So you've been keeping up with the Accord, right?" Elly grimaced.

"Yeah. Uncle Steve still isn't going to sign, is he?"

"Uh, yeah. Don't call him that, he's not your uncle." There was a very obvious twinge of annoyance in his voice. Normally she would have argued—she loved her uncle Steve Rogers and her and her mom had always welcomed as family. Tony did for a while too, until now. The two were now in the lab at the top of the Avengers tower and he immediately began pulling up various YouTube videos as well as New York street cameras, civilian surveillance, and anything of the sort with one common subject: Spider-Man was in every video. "It seems our friend Peter Parker is more than your friendly neighborhood nerd." Elly's eyes widened in disbelief.

"No way, dad. There's no way, have you seen that kid? He's so little." Tony laughed, patting his daughter on the back.

"Unfortunately. But he is what he is. He's got talent, and he also is in dire need of an upgrade. Look at this." He pointed to one of the screens that were paused on Spider-Man. "He is literally wearing a hoodie and tights." The Starks shared laughter, he looked like a colorblind robber that didn't realize he stuck out like a sore thumb.

"So how is he my project?"

"I need you to design a suit for the kid. I know you've got the capacity to do it, but he's got a couple of requirements he needs in the suit." Elly looked slightly concerned.

"Like…?"

"Oh don't worry, you guys are going to go over it. He'll be here tomorrow"

"Dad, this is not how I imagined how this internship." Tony just shrugged before guiding his daughter out of the lab, an arm around her shoulder. His stomach began to growl lowly, making him look down, then at her.

"Hey, are you hungry? Let's go get lunch."

"Dad, stop deflecting!"

"Chinese food it is, kiddo!" Elly rolled her eyes. Some things never change.

* * *

Over lunch, the father and daughter pair talked more of what to expect from the upcoming internship. From what it sounded like, she was most likely just going to be doing maintenance for Iron Man, with the exception of the fruition of Peter's Spider-Man suit. It didn't sound incredibly glorious, but considering her concentration of study being anatomy and robotic engineering, some exposure would be better than none. After lunch, Tony returned back to the lab while Elly finally got around to unpacking and eventually began cleaning her entire room. Pepper walked by, stopping when she saw her daughter almost furiously throwing piles of paper into a trash bag, stripping her bed sheets, and tossing out all the water bottles that were littered around her room.

"Oh boy, you're anxious cleaning again. What's wrong?" Pepper was leaning against her daughter's bedroom door frame, iPad in her hand as her daughter looked up at her curiously.

"Oh um. Nothing, really. I just start work tomorrow so I guess I just wanted to clean my space and my mind, something like that." Elly replied nonchalantly. Her mom's head tilted slightly in skepticism.

"Who do you think you're talking to? I know you, Madelyn Joyce."

"Yeah, can't hide anything from you." She said quietly. Her mom was her best friend, and her mom always knew. "Well, dad gave me my first assignment. I guess I have to design a suit for Peter Parker."

"Ah, so he told you of your little friend's alter ego. Well, I wouldn't be nervous. Your dad went through that sketchbook front to back. I think he knows you can handle it; you can handle anything honey, you're _my_ daughter after all." Pepper went to hug Elly and placed a kiss at the top of her head in comfort.

"Thanks, mom." After her mom left her room, Elly went back to cleaning, though at a much slower pace now that her anxiety began to subside. She replaced the sheets with clean ones, put every misplaced item in their home, and swept and mopped her hardwood floors. Having a clean room helped her calm down and helped her creativity flow. Elly laid belly down on fresh sheets with the leather bound sketchbook Peter gave her, turned to a blank page and began to sketch designs for his suit. Eventually, she began to get lost in her drawings, trying to think of what else Peter besides holsters for his web fluid. Hours must have passed without Elly realizing it until her mom knocked on her bedroom door.

"Dinner is ready, honey." Elly nodded, closing her sketchbook and standing up. Together, mother and daughter walked down the hall to the elevator. After Pepper pushed the button down to the second floor, Elly gathered they were going to the communal dining room, which was usually where the earth's greatest defenders dined.

"Oh, is everyone joining us for dinner?" Elly asked. Pepper just smiled as the elevator doors opened right to the dining room. Natasha, Vision, and Wanda were all gathered at the table, a large spread with all of Elly's favorite foods were set up family style. Tony was in the kitchen, pulling something out of the oven as his family walked in. "Oh wow, what's going on? Dad's actually cooking?"

"We wanted to welcome you officially as a part of the team." Natalie said. Pepper took the seat to the right of Tony's spot, the head seat facing the elevator, as Elly took the head seat directly across from her dad between Natalie and Wanda.

"Thanks so much guys, it looks great!" While Elly was incredibly grateful to have dinner with her second family, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness noticing half of them were missing. No uncle Steve or uncle Clint. Regardless, she tried to enjoy what was left of her broken family.

Halfway through dinner, Vision got up and grabbed a bottle of white wine from the fridge, and poured a glass for everyone, even Elly. After the glasses had been poured, Tony cleared his throat. "Thank you, everyone, for being here considering the circumstance. I just wanted to congratulate my daughter on _earning_ the Stark Enterprises internship." Everyone at the table raised their glasses and said cheers before taking a swig of their wine. "I'm proud of you, honey." Tony added afterward, making Elly look down in slight embarrassment.

"It's not a big deal dad."

"Oh come on, honey. Be proud, you really did earn this and you're going to be great." Said Pepper with a glowing smile.

"Ugh, here's to hoping, mom." Elly raised her wine glass again before downing what was left in it.

* * *

 **Author Note:** Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.


	2. Chapter 2

_I guess I don't know how to live with a good thing and not break it into nothing._

 _ **II.**_

* * *

Madelyn awoke the next morning around seven and dragged herself out of bed to get ready for her first day of work. After a quick shower, she did her hair and make up before getting dressed. She pushed the button that opened her massive closet that took up her entire west wall. The glass sliding doors peeled back as Madelyn stepped in, trying to find something fitting. She settled on high-waisted black dress pants over a white bodysuit with a lade bodice and nude wedges. She was out her bedroom door by half past eight and made her way to the lab where she knew her dad would be.

"Morning, honey. Think fast." Elly looked up just in time catch the car keys her dad threw at her. "Nice reflexes, kiddo."

"You're actually letting me take my car? What's the occasion?" She asked suspiciously.

"I mean, it _is_ your car." Elly rolled her eyes at her dad's sarcasm before he continued. "Your project, remember? Parker's suit?"

"What, you're not having Happy go get him?" Tony shook his head before looking away. For a very brief moment, there was a pained look on his face before a clearly fake smile took over.

"No, I gave him some time off. So you're picking him up; I sent you the location to your phone. Be polite to his aunt May, and drive carefully please!" Before Elly could get a word in, Tony was rushing her out of the lab. The elevator opened to Pepper getting out just as Elly was going in. They greeted each other in passing, Pepper kissing her daughter goodbye and safe travels. She waited until the elevator doors shut before turning her attention to Tony.

"You know you can't avoid this conversation by hiding in the lab." Tony refused to look at her as he continued to work on his own project.

"I'm not avoiding anything, dear." Pepper let out a slight hiss in frustration before she stood next to him.

"Tony." She grabbed his shoulders, making sure he was paying attention. "This is not the way we agreed to raise Elly. We agreed on a normal life for her—I came back so we could be a family with you and you don't seem to want that."

"Of course I want that!" He yelled, his temper getting the better of him. "Why do you think think I'm doing this?! I need this place to be safer for you two, that's why I signed the accord!"

"You signed it for yourself, Tony!" Pepper screamed back, unable to hold back any longer. Tears were streaming down her face. "You signed it to ease your guilt, it's all about you."

"You don't get it, Pepp. That guilt? It's all _because_ I can't protect my own fucking family!" She couldn't stop the tears that were flowing from her light blue eyes.

"All we need is for you to be here, Tony. Let me know when you're done playing Iron Man and actually want to be a family." She turned to walk away from him, until he grabbed her arm.

"What about Madelyn's internship?" Pepper grit her teeth before ripping her arm away.

"She will continue it only because that is what _she_ wants. The minute summer is over, she is coming home with me." Without another word, Pepper grabbed the elevator and exited the lab. Out of anger, Tony threw the flash drive he was working on at a window.

* * *

Madelyn arrived in Queens around ten after dealing with the pain of New York traffic. She entered the apartment building and hit the buzzer with a little tag that read 'Parker' in an elegant script next to it. After being let in, Elly made her way down the hall and found a petite woman sticking her head out of the door. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Hi, are you May Parker?" When she nodded, Elly held her hand out to shake, hoping her politeness was charming enough. "Hi, I'm Madelyn Stark. I'm here to pick up Peter for his internship." At the mention of her nephew's job, May's face lit up before opening the door further and allowed Elly to step in.

"Oh, come in come in! I'll go get him, please make yourself at home!" A small bashful smile was on Elly's face as she entered, quietly looking around Peter's apartment. It was quaint and home; entirely the opposite of her home at the Avengers Tower. After a couple of minutes, May returned with Peter, who looked like he had just woken up. Despite his sleepy eyes, he was at least dressed in a white muscle shirt and black joggers with a backpack slung over his shoulders.

"Morning, sleepy head. Ready to go?" Elly asked politely with a lingering teasing tone.

"Y-yeah, I'm good." He mumbled, only half awake.

"Come on Peter, wake up! How about some coffee? Would you like some coffee, Madelyn?"

"N-no, really it's okay aunt May." Peter attempted to protest. On top of being tired, he looked incredibly uncomfortable for reasons unknown.

"I would love a cup, thank you!" Madelyn replied. She took a seat the dining room table placed between the kitchen and living room, Peter taking a seat from across from her.

"So, Madelyn Stark, you said? Are you Mr. Stark's niece or…?" May asked as she turned on the coffee maker before grabbing the seat next to Peter.

"Actually, I'm his daughter." May looked taken aback.

"O-oh! I had no idea he even had a daughter." Elly let out a semi-bitter laugh.

"Yes, he keeps me hidden for my safety, or so he says. When I was still in school, he had me enrolled as Madelyn Joyce." Peter got up and grabbed mugs out of the cupboard to pour the coffee.

"Elly, do you take any cream or sugar?" He asked.

"Both, please." She said very sweetly in reply. May's eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them, observing the teenagers—the use of a nickname did not go amiss.

"Where did you go to school, Madelyn?"

"Please, you can call me Elly as well. And I actually just graduated from Midtown Teach."

"Oh, so you and Peter known each other!" Peter set down the coffee mugs, trembling ever so slightly from carrying all three. As soon as he sat, he began slurping at his back coffee. He was so tense that Elly could feel it from across the table.

"Actually, we only just met on my last day of school after his friend so graciously ruined my portfolio for my internship; I think Peter here was out to sabotage me." Elly joked, throwing a wink to the fifteen year-old. May let out a boisterous laughter, loving the wit that the Stark daughter was equipped with.

"Are you ready to go, Elly?" Peter asked, done with the comedy at his expense, also slightly confused to this sassy, playful side of the girl he had met just a couple weeks prior. Elly nodded before gulping down her last drink of coffee.

"Yeah, we should get going. Thank you so much for the coffee, Mrs. Parker."

"Oh, just call me May, honey." She walked the two teens to the door. She gave Peter a hug and a kiss before sending them off. "Have a good time at your internship, you two!" After she shut the door, May let out a small sigh of relief. Internally, she was laughing. From miles away, she could tell her nephew was developing a crush.

Elly and Peter opened their respective doors to her car. After turning the engine on, she plugged her phone into a USB port on the center console and pulled up an app. A soothing, male British voice came over the car speakers. "Welcome back, Ms. Stark."

"Woah, what was that?!" Peter asked excitedly.

"A.A.R.O.N., I would like you to meet Peter Parker, he's one of dad's newest recruits. Introduce yourself."

"Hello, Mr. Parker. I am Artificial Assistance Ready On Notice, or A.A.R.O.N." The robot said.

"That is so cool! Did your dad design him? Can I get one of these things? What else can he do?" Peter was firing a million questions at once, a nervous habit he had. Elly just laughed before pulling into the road, heading back to the Avengers Tower.

"A.A.R.O.N, Please turn on EDEN's Vertigo album." Elly said. The radio switched on soothing music for the ride to serve as background noise. "And actually, A.A.R.O.N. is my creation modeled after J.A.R.V.I.S. And I'm sure I could figure out a way to make something similar for you, maybe I can install it into your suit."

"M-my suit?"

"Yes. Your first day is actually going to be with me for a little bit. I'm designing your Spider-Man suit." Peter was at it again, launching question after question. "I've got a couple of ideas on what I want to do, but you aren't going to see anything but the finished project. I just need to get your measurements today. After that, your agenda is entirely up to my dad." Peter couldn't stop himself from asking so many inquiries—he fired them off as they came to mind. He couldn't even explain why he was so nervous. Maybe it was because it was first time actually going to the Avengers Tower. Or maybe it was because after sitting with Elly for more than ten minutes, he saw how much more put together she was for her internship in comparison to himself. Or maybe it was just because he was alone with his boss' daughter.

* * *

Peter and Elly arrived safe and sound to the tower after about forty five minutes. She parked her car in the garage, grabbing her phone immediately to take the incoming call from her father. "What up, pops?" She could _hear_ Tony's eyes roll.

"Nothing, squirt. You got the kid?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, she's a kid too!" Peter tried to interject in the background. He could hear both of the Starks' eyes roll.

"Great. Go on and take him into the office on our floor, then send him to the training room when you're done."

"10-4." Elly said before hanging up the phone, picking up her pace ever so slightly. She held open the door for Peter before clicking the elevator button to go up to the fourth floor. They walked down the hallway in silence until Elly saw her mom.

"Oh, honey. I'm glad I got you." Pepper said, stopping the two teens in their tracks. "I need to talk to you really quick." At that, Elly directed Peter to take the hall all the way down to the third door on the right to get to the office, and that she would meet him there. It was obvious that this conversation was meant to be private.

"What's up, mom?" Pepper looked at her daughter with hard, pained eyes.

"I um..." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I have to go overseas for a while to do some work for your dad. I don't know how long I'll be gone."

"Oh, are you helping dad try to get more signatures for the Sokovia Accord?" Elly asked, having no idea how much her mother's heart was breaking with every word.

"Y-yeah. I have to travel to a whole bunch of different continents, and I don't know if these people are even going to sign." Pepper was trying to laugh it off.

"Aw, be safe mom. I'll miss you!" Pepper hugged her daughter, fighting back tears.

"Listen to your dad, okay? But if anything happens, you call me and I'll come running back, okay?" Pepper choked out the last sentence, alerting Elly.

"Are you okay, mom?"

"I love you, sweetie." Was all she said before she kissed her daughter goodbye. When Elly could no longer see her mom's face, Pepper broke down and let the tears fall.

After their brief goodbye, Elly made her way to the Stark family office. Peter was looking at all the photographs along the wall; almost all of them were photos of Elly from when she was a baby to present day. One sat framed on the presidential desk in the center of the room—one of the ones Peter had taken at her graduation ceremony. The family was laughing as the wind was blowing, Elly's graduation cap lifting off of her head. "Quite the photographer, you are. That's dad's favorite photo." At the sound of her voice, Peter put the picture he didn't even realize he was even holding back down on the desk.

"W-well, it helps that you're all so photogenic." He said quietly before turning to her fully. "So what are we doing today?" Elly walked to the eastern wall, pushing in one of the panels that seemed to be made of industrial, spring lock cabinets disguised as granite. She pulled out a tape measure from the drawer as well as the sketchbook from her purse that she had been carrying with her.

"A.A.R.O.N, please activate one way security camera from here to the lab." An affirmative beep was heard from her phone. "Cool. Now we can get started. Dad would flip if I didn't turn on the cameras."

"Wait, why?" Peter asked. Elly gently nudged him towards the center of the office and pulled his arms up to rest in a T-shape.

"I'm taking your measurements. He would kill me knowing I had a practically naked boy in here." Completely nonchalant, she pulled his white muscle tee over his head, tossed it to the floor, and began measuring the length of his torso and arms. Peter's face began to burn bright red.

"N-naked?" He tried to gulp back his nervousness. She was measuring the length of each of his arms, then the width around his torso, biceps, and forearms.

"Obviously, I have to fit your suit to you." Peter couldn't figure out she was so utterly calm—he was freaking out! "You can drop your arms now. And your pants. I need to get accurate leg measurements." He felt the hairs on his arm raise, overly aware of her delicate fingers touching his bare legs after he dropped his joggers around his ankles, standing in only his boxers. Before he knew it, she was wrapping the tape measure around each of his thighs, then calves, then ankles. "All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?" She was scribbling away in her sketch pad as he scrambled to put his muscle shirt and sweats back on. After he was dressed, she had finished writing down all of his measurements. "Are there any other requirements of your suit that you need?"

"U-um. I need something to cover my eyes." Elly looked at him with a brow raised, waiting for further explanation. "Ever since I got bit by the spider, it's like all of my senses are at like an eleven. It's kind of hard to focus when I see every color in the spectrum." She made a note of that in her journal, unable to stop her mind from wondering what it would be like to see the world through his eyes. She was also unable to stop herself from leaving a note that read 'bit by a spider' followed by an unnecessary amount of question marks.

"Ooookay, anything else? Dad told me about your web fluid holsters, I'll make sure to add that." He shook his head no, unsure of how to even respond. He had no idea to expect—all he knew is that the image of Spider-Man was at her mercy.

"Okay, cool. Dad said to meet in the training room when you were done up here. Want me to take you there?"

"Uh, yeah, that would be great!" The two exited the office, the sound of Elly's wedges clicking against the tile as she walked. "So when do you think you'll have the suit done?" She shrugged as they rode the elevator down.

"I'm not sure. I wasn't given a deadline, so I'm not going to try to rush it."

"Don't forget, I want one of those A.I. assistants!" The teenagers shared laughter as they walked down the hall. They reached the training room on the first floor, Elly opening the door for Peter and giving a small wave to Natasha.

"Have fun with training, Parker."

"Yeah, will do." Before she shut the door, Peter held it open with a quick smack of his hand. "Hey, uh…d-do you want to get lunch whenever I'm done here?" There was a small pink blush dusting over his cheeks as he avoided eye contact with her. She gave a soft snort in reply without intending to—she wasn't used to shy or bashful men, seeing as she didn't socialize very often with people close to her own age.

"Sure thing, Peter. Communal dining room is on the second floor, I'll meet you there later."

"Y-yeah, cool." He gave an awkward hybrid of a wave and a salute goodbye before Elly headed back to the elevator, the faintest smirk on her face. For an overly awkward, young teenager, Peter was a pretty cute kid.

* * *

 **Author Note:** Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.


	3. Chapter 3

_But I could be more, isn't there more?_

 _ **III.**_

* * *

Elly returned to the family office on the fourth floor to work in private could sneak a peak at her project. She grabbed a collapsible easel from the same drawer she grabbed the tape measure from earlier. After she set it up with a blueprint sketchbook, she started drawing out a pattern, getting enthralled with her work once again. Elly laid out the general sketch of his suit and knocked out the easy part—it was the mechanics of the suit that was the real problem. She checked the watch she wore on her right wrist; 3:23p.m. Finishing up the designs on the Spider-Man suit, Elly figured she could meet up with Peter for lunch. Hopefully Natasha was done whipping his ass into shape. She made her way back to the second floor, already seeing Peter waiting at the communal dining table. Upon seeing her, he stood up abruptly. "H-hey!" He greeted, clearly trying to appear casual.

"Hey, hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." Elly slinked off to the fridge to see what was available to eat.

"Oh, no not at all. Um, what did you want to do for lunch?"

"I figured you'd have a plan since you asked me." There was that lingering tone of teasing that wasn't there the first time Peter had met her. On the one hand, he was glad she wasn't as deadpan as she was that day, but her playfulness constantly left him flustered. "I'm joking. I'll whip us up something real quick." Before Peter could protest, she was pulling out ingredients. He watched in curiosity as she seasoned two chicken breasts at the same time as heating a saucepan half full with water and a skillet with the tiniest amount of olive oil. "How was training with Nat?"

"Pretty good, I think. Except for the fact that she can kick my ass in hand to hand combat." The faintest hint of a pout was on the young boy's face, making Elly grin in amusement.

"Dude, she's been doing this stuff longer than we've been alive. I'd hope she can kick your ass." Peter gave a mocking laugh before glaring at her.

"I'll beat her one day!" She gave a dismissive 'mhm' as she turned the seared chicken breasts and dropped pasta into the now boiling water. She pulled a vegetable steamer out from a cupboard to the left of her, placing it in the same pot as the pasta and steamed fresh cut broccoli. These were incredibly menial tasks, Peter realized, but he was mesmerized.

"What's the matter, Parker?" Madelyn asked.

"W-what? Nothing."

"You're staring, Spider-Boy."

"Spider- _Man_." He emphasized the word man in annoyance. "And it's just different to watch someone cook. I usually hide in my room when my aunt cooks and pretend I'm asleep. She isn't exactly the best at cooking."

"Well, looks like I'll have to avoid having future dinners over there." She joked before turning back to the stove. Did Peter hear that right? Did she just insinuate that she would have had dinner at his house if he didn't mention May was a bad cook? No, he must have heard that wrong. "All done!" Elly turned off the burners and plated their meals. With one in each hand, she set one in front of him at the table, the other in front of the seat directly to his left. In silence, Elly began to dig in with Peter following suit.

"This is really good." He said after swallowing his second bite.

"Glad you like it." Silence filled the air as they ate. They had nothing to talk about and each one of them knew it. Peter was trying his absolute best to not look like an idiot in front of her, but had wanted to ask her so many questions. Or even just tell her simple things but felt that even compliments were crossing boundary lines. Elly wanted to know what it was like to be normal, and the question was gnawing at her. She was, is, and always will be Tony Stark's daughter—and that had a stigma to it. She also grew up keeping to herself, even in school, so nobody would ever find out who she really was. She already tried that once and failed. The only socialization she ever had was with people of power: The Avengers, Rhodey, SHIELD agents, and the like. She had nobody even remotely close to her own age to offer childhood friendship to. "Hey, Peter?" Elly decided to break the ice.

"Yeah?"

"What are your friends like?" He looked taken aback.

"M-my friends? Uh...well I don't have that many really. Most people pick on me. Ned is the one who bumped into and ruined your sketchbook; he's my best friend. And Michelle is weird. She's not really a friend, but she always sits...by us at lunch?" Peter wasn't sure how to role Michelle into his friends. She was just always there but didn't officially qualify as a friend. She was definitely strange, but Peter had no reason to exclude her from his friend list.

"Do you and Ned do everything together?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, kinda. Not so much anymore since your dad offered me this grant, internship, whatever you want to call it. I feel kind of bad 'cause I've been ditching him a lot lately." He hadn't meant to admit the last bit out loud. Out of embarrassment and guilt, he took a big bite of his meal to delay more words from spilling past his lips.

"You should spend more time with him. The internship isn't going anywhere."

"What about you, who's your best friend?" He asked, trying to deter the attention from himself.

"I-I don't have one anymore..." She murmured, a smidge of sadness flashing in her eyes. "My best friend passed away two years ago."

"Oh, shit. I-I'm sorry, forget I asked." His cheeks burned red as he mentally yelled at himself for even saying anything. To ease his nerves, he cleared his plate.

"No, it's okay. Really. Sometimes talking about her and her passing kind of...comforts me for some reason."

"How did she…?" Peter couldn't bring himself to completely asked how she died.

"It's a bit of a long story, but long story short, she overdosed." Empty noise wafted into the air, making Elly the slightest bit uncomfortable. She never felt like talking about death was over sharing, but Peter was so young. There was no possible way she could explain the death of her best friend in a way didn't make her sound like an insane person.

"I lost my uncle a few years ago. I learned to cope with it..." He trailed off, unable to connect his thoughts with his mouth.

"But it never really goes away." Elly finished somberly. "Maybe I'll tell you the story one day." Peter nodded, silently vowing the same as she finished her meal. He picked up both of their plates and brought them to the sink to wash. Elly told him he didn't have to worry about doing the dishes, but he brushed her off.

"You cooked, so I'll do the cleaning!" A silent sigh of relief passed through Elly's lips—she absolutely loathed doing dishes.

"Thanks, Petey, you're the best." She teased before pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek. "I've got some work to start in the lab, so I'll be at the top floor if you need me." Elly called for the elevator and left poor Peter Parker standing there, utterly stunned. His mind was in a complete whirlwind. Madelyn Stark was his first kiss that wasn't from family—even if it was just on the cheek. Already, he was overly aware of their age difference; that he was only about to turn sixteen and she was more than likely going to be turning eighteen. She had said just a couple of weeks ago that _this_ would never happen when he wrapped an arm around her waist for a picture, whatever _this_ was. She was also his boss' daughter, and not just any boss for that matter. She was Tony fucking Stark's daughter! But gods above, she was brilliant and beautiful and there was nothing Peter wanted more than to feel her lips against his skin again. After mild deliberation, he rang for the elevator to take him to the lab on the top floor.

Elly was working in her own, albeit small, quadrant of the Avengers laboratory. Her father was working on his own projects on the opposite side and, despite the distance between them, Peter could spot numerous similarities between the two. Both of them were angling their gaze slightly upward to their virtual screens in front of them; she was almost his mirror, having his cheekbones and nose. But she definitely had Pepper's eyes. He walked towards Elly's smaller workspace, alerting her with the sound of his footsteps. "Oh, I'm glad you're here!"

"R-really?"

"Yeah. I need a sample of your web fluid so that I can make some adjustments for your suit." Peter hoisted his backpack onto an empty spot on her desk, digging through the front pockets to grab a small of vial of his signature web. "Perfect, thanks Peter." She put that aside and saved the coding file she was working on. Elly was unsure how tech savvy he was, so she was trying to keep anything related to his suit a surprise to him. "So, what else did you have planned for the day?"

"Nothing else, I don't think. Unless Mr. Stark has specific instructions!" Peter called out the last bit of his sentence loud enough for the man in question to hear. Tony offhandedly waved, but said nothing. "Looks like I'm done here."

"Cool, want me to take you home?"

"Uh, yeah. That would be great." He struggled to keep his cool, but her words filled him with anxiety and excitement. He would get to be alone with her in the car and, thanks to New York City rush hour, it would most likely be longer than the ride in. Elly got up from her stool and swung her purse over her shoulder..

"Hey, dad! I'm going to take Peter back to Queens!" She called out.

"Okay, honey. Be careful!" He didn't turn around once, which somewhat alerted Elly. He hadn't looked at her since she got to the lab. But she did her best to ignore it as the two teens got into the elevator and waited for it to drop down to the garage level. They stood quietly and, while Elly thought nothing of it, the gears in Peter's mind were turning, causing his nerves to cultivate. As she backed out of the garage, she had A.A.R.O.N play the same album as before, the calming yet upbeat music seeping into Peter's veins. He did his best to watch the city go by him, but it was difficult with the car coming to a stop due to traffic. When finally looked at Elly after god knows how many muted minutes, her lips were moving along to the lyrics and bopping her head to the beat. Thanks to his enhanced senses, he was also able to hear her softly singing along.

"You can sing if you want, there's no one here." He offered, making her look at him in a questioning manner.

"Did you refer to yourself as 'no one', Spider-Man?" There was that teasing tone again that couldn't help but leave Peter flustered. Before he could start stuttering like she knew he was going to, she began belting out to the chorus along with the car radio. When EDEN's voice faded out, so did Elly's.

"Y-you have a pretty voice." He said quietly as he looked out the windshield at the stopped vehicles. He decided he was going to inch over the imaginary boundary line that he feared crossing. She snorted in response in conjunction with her laughter.

"That's hilarious, Peter. I'm as tone deaf as my dad." She said. He was trying to hold it together, as much as he wanted to crumble at her playfulness. He also wanted to throw it back to at her.

"I mean, I was trying to be polite..."

"Oh boy, spidey's got jokes!" The two were laughing raucously in the car as the rest of New York was at a standstill.

"A.A.R.O.N, please turn on the Ultimate Playlist." The intro to HandClap by Fitz and the Trantums' came on, and Elly immediately started dancing in her seat as much as her seat belt would allow her. Peter was watching in amusement as she sang along with rigorous shoulder shaking and dramatic hand movements, most of those involving her fingers delicately brushing the underside of his jaw.

"You've got your dad's old man dance moves too." There was a smirk on his lips as Elly feigned false anger with her mouth agape. But she was also smiling and laughing while trying to reach for Peter's hands to make him clap along with the song. Traffic was finally moving ever so slightly, and that was the only reason she had stopped being goofy, though she would pause to clap to the beat every time it had come up. She was still chuckling and it made his heart murmur ever so slightly. "Hey, A.A.R.O.N, could you put something on that will make Ms. Stark sing?" She looked over at him in slight disbelief, thought she was still trying to keep her eyes on the barely moving traffic. He was conspiring with _her_ robot assistant!

"Understood, Mr. Parker." Elly heard the soft strums of a guitar that she immediately recognized and, before she could stop herself, she was singing along to Vance Joy. Traffic was finally moving more than a few centimeters at a top, yet she had hardly even noticed. She was too busy singing along, hitting her hands against the steering wheel of her Audi to the beat.

"I told you you had a pretty voice." Peter said, holding up his phone that showed a looping Snapchat video of Elly screeching along, entirely out of key.

"You better delete that, Parker!" She yelled jokingly as she exited off of the freeway. He would be home in just a few moments now.

"No way, the world needs to know this side of the Stark family!"

"That's where you lose, nobody knows I exist!" She had him in a checkmate, or so she thought. With Peter's knowledge, he had to tread carefully while in check—but he also knew the only way to win now was to take a risk. The two had arrived outside of his apartment; now was his time to take the chance.

"Hey, thanks for taking me home, Elly." He said, turning down the music to a faint whisper. "Um...I-I wanted to ask you if you wanted to do something this weekend? You probably already have plans, but if you're not doing anything…?" He couldn't finish his sentence. Her silence made him feel so incredibly foolish for even considering asking her to hang out. But he wanted—needed, even—to see her more than just their internship.

"Nah, I'm not doing anything. Did you have something in mind this time or am I making the plans again?" Damn her and her teasing tone.

"W-wait, really? N-n-no, I'll have the whole day planned for us!" Before he could have more tongue tied words stumble past his lips, he opened the door and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Sure thing, Peter. I'll be here around six on Saturday?" Despite her exuding confidence, Elly could feel her cheeks burn in the slightest.

"Sounds great, I'll see you then!" He turned away and shut her car door, fumbling for his apartment keys in his backpack. He refused to let Elly see his beat red face and toothy grin; he could feel his rapid heart beat in his throat. "Hey, aunt May!" The overly excited teen called out into his seemingly empty apartment. "I need your help!"

"What's wrong, Peter?" She emerged from her bedroom, alarm crossing her face.

"I think I have a date."

* * *

 **Author Note:** Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.


	4. Chapter 4

_**I'm laying down my cards.**_

 _ **IV.**_

* * *

Days had passed since Elly took Peter home, and not once did their plans not cross her mind. She knew he was still a kid, and though she was technically was too, she was just excited to have more genuine social contact from someone closer to her age. Granted, he was still a "person of power" being a potential recruit of the Avengers, but he was entirely different from the rest of the team. Being younger made him seem so much more earnest and humble. The day had finally come and despite it being a Saturday and Elly having the day off, she threw herself into her work to keep herself busy. Majority of her morning was spent developing different functions of his web shooters for his suit. Another good portion was spent on developing his artificial intelligence assistant, but it proved to be a challenge. Both her and her father's assistants had been personally created to cater to their master's needs and, as excited as she was to be seeing him later tonight, she didn't know very much about Peter. From what she gathered so far, he was just overly excited to be an Avenger, but he wasn't quite there yet. She decided it would be beset to hold off on the personal touches until she got to know him better. It was relatively early on in the afternoon, being that it was only one o'clock. Regardless, Elly figured it would be a good idea to start getting ready know.

She was definitely a very punctual person, even if it meant she had to start pampering herself pretty early. So in her luxurious jet soaker bathtub she sat, the pressure working out knots in her lower back. Her favorite part about her bathroom, or her entire room even, was that she could swim in her bathtub. And she always did if she wasn't rushing in the shower to get ready for the day. It wasn't until after she had become shriveled like a prune that she decided to get out of her tub, which had been enough to kill another hour. Adorning a fluffy white bathrobe, Elly wrapped her hair in a towel turban before exiting to her room to sit at her vanity. As she sat and stared at herself in the mirror, she was unsure of how to go about how to doll up for the day. They were just hanging out...right? He seemed so nervous to even ask her but maybe he was just shy. She wasn't even sure if she should be getting ready at all. They were just hanging out. That didn't require make up and anything more than jeans and a tee shirt, right? Still, come internal feeling in her gut made her believe this was more than a casual get together but she almost refused to believe it. She shouldn't even want it to be more than something casual—she was moving onto college while he was going into sophomore year of high school. He was also freaking Spider-Man for fucks sake. But the memory of her and Peter singing and dancing in the car—or rather her and Peter recording her—warmed her heart. She had fun and enjoyed his company, and she wanted to chase that feeling again. Elly wanted to stop feeling so alone.

After settling on faux natural make up, ripped dark wash jeans, and a long sleeve crop top, Elly laced up her white Doc Martens before heading up to the lab to grab her car keys from her dad. "Oh, you're going out?" Tony asked, much to his surprise. He always held onto her keys, and all of the household car keys for that matter, as a way to check in with his daughter and to make sure he knew when she was absent from the Tower.

"Yeah, Peter asked me to hang out."

"Parker did? The same cheeky little kid that's been coming here for training? Do I need to have a talk with him?" Elly rolled her eyes.

"No, dad. We're just hanging out."

"There better not be anything hanging out!" She groaned, not needing her dad to go into over protective mode. Hearing him do so only made her anxiety rise again as she couldn't stop herself from thinking that this was potentially something more. "I'm having a talk with him." Tony said firmly.

"Cool, whatever. Can I please have my car keys?" He sighed in response before reluctantly handing them over. "Thanks, dad. Love you."

"Love you too, princess. Be careful!" She ignored the double meaning before taking the elevator down to the garage and made her way to Queens. Traffic wasn't as bad as it had been earlier in the week, with it being the weekend. It was still over thirty minutes, but Elly had made it in under an hour and was only a couple minutes past six. She buzzed the Parker apartment and was immediately let in through both doors by May who hugged her in greeting.

"Peter! Your girlfriend is here!" She called out. He immediately burst out of his room, ready to protest against his aunt's statement but the minute he saw Elly standing there, his words failed him.

"Uh, h-hi." Aunt May was shoving a small basket in his hands, gushing to him about how lovely the teenage Stark looked and a few other things that Elly couldn't quite hear. "I got it, May." He grumbled, taking the basket before choking back his nerves. "You look great, Elly. Ready to go?" Peter's last words came out rather quick.

"Yep! What's the plan, Stan?" The two said goodbye to May while he was carrying the picnic basket in one hand while his other brushed the small of her exposed back.

"It's a surprise." He replied cheekily as they walked the streets of Queens. They were close enough that with every step, they walked in sync with his just barely touching hers.

"Really? I mean a picnic basket is kind of a dead giveaway." Elly teased, now purposely brushing along his hand. Peter indulged in her banter as they arrived to quiet park with a creek on the outskirts of Queens. Opening the basket, he pulled out a large blanket and laid it out for the two to sit on and began pulling out a spread of food that he had prepared earlier in the day. Along with those, he pulled out candles, hoping the wind wouldn't blow out their flames.

"I-I know it's nothing fancy, but I wanted to keep today simple. I'm a pretty simple person." Peter said, offering her a soda. She opened the bottle and took a swig of her drink.

"Simple, says a web slinging superhero." The two laughed together in harmony before digging into their plates. Sandwiches, pasta and potato salad; Peter wasn't joking when he said nothing fancy. Elly was relieved that it wasn't some form of a grandiose dinner date that she was accustomed to; that she had grown so bored of over the years. She didn't need to try to be done up or super polite or talk about how excited she was to be attending Empire State in the fall. Nothing more than a jeans and a tee kind of affair, she thought to herself, remind herself of the nerves she had earlier. "So how exactly did... _you_ happen?" Elly asked, swallowing down her bite. "I mean, I read the file that dad has on you probably close to a million times, but I'm sure there's more to the store than just being bitten by a radioactive spider."

"Well, that _is_ what happened. And I mentioned needing something to cover my eyes, right?" She nodded before Peter took a small bite as he pulled out his phone, briskly typing something in. He showed her an image of a generic color hex code palette. "So you see all these colors on here?" By now he was leaning into Elly, their shoulders and arms touching as they looked at the phone screen together. She nodded in response. "I can see every pixel that is creating each color on this spectrum. I just woke up and saw everything, it felt like I could do _anything_. But then I found out I could climb walls after Flash threw me against one and I got stuck to it."

"Holy shit, that sounds like a headache." Again, they laughed together, Elly subconsciously leaning further into Peter. As their chuckles died down, the gears in his mind began rapidly turning as he contemplated crossing the imaginary boundary line yet again. He had already crossed it once, and it got them to this very spot. He figured it was worth taking a risk.

"It is, but sometimes I love being able to see everything. Like when I look at you," Peter was staring straight into her eyes as he said this. "I can see a tint of green, amber, and gold in your eyes instead of just blue. It's a really pretty combination." Elly looked away bashfully, attempting to hide the faint blush creeping up on her cheeks. For the first time in probably a long time, she was at a loss for words. Being the daughter of Tony Stark had molded her to be quick witted and always have a reply at the ready, but not this time. When she said nothing, fear began to make Peter's heart race—did he go too far? "I-I-I'm sorry, that sounded really stupid. Forget I said anything." It was his turn to look away and, in doing so, he pulled away from their barely there contact.

"No, it wasn't stupid." Elly's voice was quiet. "I'm just not used to compliments. I'm not even used to being acknowledged. Dad's always in the spotlight, while mom and I hide in the shadows." Peter looked at her, one of his hand resting delicately over top one of hers. He gave her a reassuring squeeze to let her know that he was listening. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to unload my personal family drama."

"Hey, I don't mind. Really. You, um..." His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, treading carefully on how to phrase his next sentence. "You said you lost your best friend, and that you don't really have any other friends. I just wanted you to know that if you ever need to vent about your parents, I'm here to listen." He hoped that didn't sound as condescending as he thought it did. When Elly rested her head on his shoulder with their bodies pressing side by side, he felt reassured.

"She suffocated." Her voice came out as a whisper after a long pause. "S-she did, um...some not so good things. A lot." Elly's voice was so soft that if it weren't for Peter's heightened sense, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to hear her.

"She was constantly huffing keyboard duster. Her autopsy report said it ended up crystallizing her lungs, and she suffocated." Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she recalled the day she lost her best friend. "She was an idiot and I kept telling her to stop but goddamn it, nobody ever made me feel as normal as she did." Peter's body reacted before he could process that his arms wrapped around her frame as she cried silent volumes. He no longer cared if he was overstepping his boundaries—this was a pain he knew all too well. The loss of a loved one was something that could never be truly eased and over time, he learned that the only thing that dulled the hurt was having someone to share the weight of the burden.

"I was only ten." Peter started off quietly. "I was at school and stayed late for band practice. Aunt May was picking me up from school, and someone broke into our house to rob us, they ended up shooting my uncle Ben. He was the closest thing I had to a father, a-and if May didn't pick me up from s-school that day..." He couldn't finish his sentence, hanging his head in shame as he sobbed.

"But if May had been there, they could have gotten her too."

"But she also might have been able to call the police a little bit sooner to stop them!" The volume of his voice shocked Elly. She moved away slightly in retaliation, but held onto his hand that was supporting him as she sat.

"We can't dwell on those 'what ifs'." Elly choked back tears she felt forming in her throat so she could speak. "My mom told me that when Rebecca died, the more I dwell on what I could have done to save her, the more I disturb her rest. And at first, I didn't believe her since obviously my dad and myself are people of science and logic. But I always had dreams of seeing Rebecca in a meadow and she would always tell me she wasn't sick anymore and she finally found her peace and that I needed to stop worrying." Peter's arms wrapped around the Stark daughter once again, the both of them crying as they bared their raw souls. "So when I stopped thinking I needed to save her, the dreams stopped. My mom was right, or at least that's what I believe." The two sat in silence, the aching in their hearts speaking volumes for them. Neither of their minds were on the fact that he was holding her or her arms were gripping his.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin our...date." Elly said quietly. Peter only squeezed her just a little bit tighter.

"D-date, yeah." He said awkwardly, making her think she may have overstepped her boundary. "Our date isn't ruined. I'm happy you shared that with me." He declared. From behind her, he wiped away the streaks her tears left on her cheeks as well as the bits and pieces of mascara that had run down all as he held her. The sun was setting on them as they embraced in silence. "We should get going, it's getting dark." Peter helped Elly to her feet and began packing up the picnic set up. When he finished, he held a hand out for her, which she took with hesitation.

"So, you said you'd have the whole day planned, what else did you have in mind?" He simply grinned as their fingers laced before leading her down the streets of Queens once again. When he said nothing, Elly figured this would be another surprise. Peter stopped once the two of them ended up outside of a retro arcade, waving to the doorman as they entered. The doorman greeted him by name. It didn't really surprise Elly that an arcade would be on the agenda, but she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips. This was so much better than a fancy dinner date. She pulled away from him, gravitating to a classic Street Fighter arcade machine. "Do you want me to embarrass you or go easy?" She teased. Peter pulled his wallet out and put a couple of dollars in to start playing.

"Oh, you are going down." The two were overtaken with intense concentration. As the two battled on screen, they were tilting and shaking the machine all around, with Elly nudging him occasionally to throw off his movements. "Hey, no cheating!" Peter yelled out, trying to defend his hands from her.

"I don't need to cheat to beat you!" She retorted playfully as her player delivered a final blow. After their match, the two moved from various machines, ending their night at one of the open billiards tables. It was another game Peter couldn't win at.

"You know, when I planned all of this, I didn't think you'd beat me at _everything_." He pouted as Elly sank the eight ball _again_.

"You shouldn't underestimate me, Parker. I have too much free time on my hands." She teased. It was beginning to get late, so Elly suggested they should be getting home to avoid breaking curfew. "I had a ton of fun today, Peter." She said, holding his hand that he held out loosely intertwined fingers. "We should do this again sometime."

"R-really?" Unintentionally, he squeezed her hand ever so slightly. "I-I mean, yeah for sure." Elly let out a small bubble of laughter, stopping in her tracks as they arrived to the Parker residence. Their hands were still laced together as they faced each other. Anxiety filled Peter as he came to understand that he didn't want this night to end. What if she never wanted to see him ever again and she was just being polite? How was he supposed to arrange this again if the only place they saw each other was at work? Elly could see him getting lost in thought. His lips always pursed into a thin, hard line and his brows furrowed ever so slightly when his mind took over, she observed.

"Call me when you got a plan in mind?" She offered, holding out her phone with a blank contact form for Peter to put his number in. He grinned a bit when he noticed she had his name put in as Spider-Boy with a little spider emoji after it. After he saved it, Elly called his phone. "Now you have my number. I'll be seeing you, Peter Parker." Before he could process her goodbye, she kissed his lips very hastily, turning away to get into her car and left him utterly dumbfounded.

* * *

 **Author Note:** Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.


	5. Chapter 5

_**I could be the reason we stay up all night.**_

 _ **To be someone, all we've got is to try and get it right.**_

 _ **V.**_

* * *

The work week had come and gone and the two teenagers were now inseparable. They always met up for lunch, which definitely did not go unnoticed by Tony. Elly was currently working in the lab, still programming different things into the Spider-Man suit. Thankfully though, she was finished creating his A.I. assistant, and the supportive mother style robot actually proved to be incredibly helpful. "Is it redundant to have the robot designed for the suit help create the suit?" Elly asked to the program pulled up on her virtual screen.

"A little, Ms. Stark. But, after running an analysis on all of Peter's online footage, my data should prove useful." The technology spoke. Dad had his sarcastic, straight laced asshats for his assistants, A.A.R.O.N. was a chill, older brother assistant; for Peter, Elly wanted to make one that was incredibly supportive of him since she knew essentially nobody knew of his secret identity. She would leave the naming to him, however. So far, she had installed web shooters as well as back up stock for additional web fluid. His goggles were completed and installed into his mask as well. Not only did they block out majority of the light, but even came with different settings such as X-ray and infrared vision, and a visual sound detector. In that specific mode, the embedded aides amplified his already sharp hearing and visualized it in his goggles to give him an additional thirty mile radius range of sight with an infrared overlay. Elly was really proud of that one. There wasn't much left to do on his suit accept just adding on extra capabilities.

"Hey, kiddo. Can we talk?" Elly turned to see her dad standing behind her, his arms crossed and looking very disgruntled. She turned her swivel chair around to face him fully, giving him her undivided attention. "So you and Parker, huh?" Was all Tony said.

"What about Peter and I?" She inquired suspiciously.

"Are you two...dating now?"

"We're hanging out." Elly replied elusively, not liking the way her dad was accusing her. "Is that a crime?"

"Elly, he's too young for you. He's still in high school and—"

"Dad. He's _barely_ two years younger and like I said, we're just hanging out. I hardly think that's criminal." Tony rolled his eyes; she just _had_ to have his sass. He huffed in frustration before he leaned along her desk.

"Elly, cut the bullshit. Just tell me, are there feelings between you two?" His daughter rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, dad. I really don't." Once again, her father huffed.

"Fine." Was all he said before all but storming off towards the elevator. Elly resumed her work, slightly agitated with their interaction, but also concerned with what her father was going to do next. He wasn't always a rational man when it came to his emotions, and she feared what his next move would be. Meanwhile, Tony took the elevator down to the training room to see Peter sparring with Natasha and Wanda. "Take five." He directed to the ladies. "I need to talk to this one." His eyes were narrowing in on Peter, instantly making Spider-Man nervous. His arms were crossed over his chest with a scowl on his face.

"Uh, h-hey Mr. Stark, what's up? And why do you look so pissed off?" Peter added the last part in a very hushed mumble.

"Probably has to do with some punk ass kid dating my daughter without asking for my permission."

"W-Wait, she said we're dating?! Really?!" As excited as Peter was, Tony groaned before pinching the bridge between his nose with his fingers.

"No, kid. And you're not going to be until you clear it with me!" Tony unfolded his arms for a brief second as he paced around the training room before gripping Peter's shoulders. He used more force than he needed to, exuding strength and dominance. "Elly is my pride and joy, Parker. Everything I have done in my life, I have done it for her."

"But Mr. Stark, we aren't—"

"Zip it! I'm talking." Tony snarled. "I like you kid, you got heart. But she is my _daughter_ , do you understand me? And she has been hurt enough in her lifetime that I don't need some confused kid playing with her fragile emotions!"

"I don't want to hurt her, Mr. Stark." Peter blurted out. Tony was annoyed that he had interrupted him once again, but decided to hear the boy out this time. "I want to be there for her. I-I really like her and I-I..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say next. He didn't really have a plan on what he wanted, considering they had only met a month ago. But he wanted more, that was for certain.

"You're going to think this through." Tony responded adamantly. "You want to keep being Spider-Man? Fine. You want to date my daughter on top of that? Then you have to think about the repercussions that come with being a hero." Tony opened the door to exit the training room but stopped in his tracks. "Come find me before you leave today." Peter hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise, a solid frown on his lips as Mr. Stark exited the training room. His training resumed shortly after Tony made his departure, but Peter was constantly getting his ass handed to him by Wanda and Natasha.

"You're distracted, kid." Natasha said after knocking him to the ground once again. "Whatever Tony said to you, you need to either push it aside or use it to motivate you." Her advice had Peter on his feet once again, ready to fight. But he couldn't push away his thoughts, so he listened to the latter. He was never going to stop being Spider-Man, that much he knew. But the time he spent with Elly had helped him realize that this crush he had on her was more than just admiring her beauty or wanting to hook up with her. He wanted to _be_ with her. He wanted to hold her hand everywhere they went and to be able to tell people 'Yeah, that's my girlfriend'. But was that going to be enough for Tony Stark? Was that going to be enough for Elly? Did Elly even want to date him? He still hadn't known the real answer. The only way he was going to get that answer was by talking to her, and the thought of confessing his feelings made him want to vomit. It was either that or the fact that Natasha had kicked him in the stomach for the umpteenth time.

* * *

After the beating Peter had taken in his hand to hand training session, he went to the communal dining room to have lunch with Elly as he had been doing for the last couple of weeks. She was already there, preparing their meal as she usually did. Peter had already told her once she didn't need to do that but she insisted she enjoyed cooking. She greeted him cheerily, but her face fell when she noticed his furrowed brows and slight frown. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"What? Oh, n-nothing." He responded, forcing a smile.

"You're a terrible liar, Pete." She stated, setting their plates on the table. "What's wrong?"

"Your dad came to talk to me." Elly froze as she raised her fork to take a bite of her meal, looking like a deer in headlights.

"O-oh. What did he say to you?" Silence rose between them and while she wanted to say it was because Peter was chewing his food, she knew it was because he wanted to hold off on this conversation.

"He asked if we were dating." He mumbled quietly, but was just loud enough for Elly to hear.

"What did you tell him?" Silence again. But this time, Peter dropped his fork and knife with a soft clang and grabbed her hand that was closest to him.

"I told him the truth and that we weren't but...I-I wanted to tell him yes."

"Tell him that we were..." She couldn't finish her sentence, prompting him to squeeze her hand tighter. She didn't oppose the thought of them being together as vehemently as she did when she first met him, and she wanted to say that but words were lost upon her. Her lips trembled trying to speak, but she couldn't.

"He told me to keep being me, to keep being Spider-Man. But that I needed to really think about being Spider-Man if I-I wanted to be with you. I-I don't really understand what he meant by that." Realization hit Elly hard.

"Him and my mom…" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she finally spoke. "My dad has kept me hidden my whole life so I would never be in harm's way, so I would never get hurt like he's hurt my mom." A single tear dripped down her cheek as she put the pieces together. Her mom had left her there, only to be across the ocean as she says. But maybe her mom was running; running from the pain and problems her dad was causing by being Iron Man. Both of her parents thought Elly to be too naive to understand that her dad being who he was caused the family strain, but she knew better. Peter took the words in very carefully, analyzing each word to think of his response.

"L-look, Elly. I really don't know what kind of answer your dad wants from me. All I know is that...that I want to be able to tell people that I'm seeing the most incredible, brilliant, independent girl."

"W-wow, um..." Peter was preparing himself for rejection, but his rambling thoughts wouldn't allow him to keep his opinion of her to himself any longer. "Peter, you hardly know me, I-i...h-how…?" She couldn't even form a question. Sure, she was able to piece together that he had a crush. But this was so much more intense than she could have fathomed.

"All those things I said are what I do know of you, and I know more than just those three words. I-I want to keep learning more, Elly. I-I just...ughhh." He groaned, feeling frustrating and idiotic as he held Elly's limp hand as he confessed. "I-I like you, okay? A-and I probably should have let go of your hand a long time ago but wheneverwetouchIjustfeelsomuchbetterand—" Peter's words were rushing together so quickly, Elly not only didn't understand him but also wondered how he managed not to breathe. She needed him to stop and relax for a second before he gave himself a heart attack at fifteen.

"Peter, Peter. Shh. Listen to me for ten seconds, okay?" She finally started gripping his hand back, easing his anxiety ever so slightly. "At graduation, I told you and my dad that us being together would never happen, but I-I love spending time with you. So much more than I thought I would. I feel like I can actually be a kid and not some miniature version of my parents a-and the time I spend with you has been the only thing that quiets my guilt about Rebecca and my parents fighting." Elly was rambling now, finding the strength to tell Peter how he made her feel. A small chuckle left her lips, making him raise an eyebrow at her. "My dad is never going to accept this, you know. He's going to write it off as stupid teenage love." Though the words slipped past Elly, Peter's heart throbbed at the use of the word 'love'.

"I don't want him to hate me!" Again she chuckled before leaning over to peck his cheek, much to his surprise.

"Just be honest with him, like you were with me."

"H-honest, huh? Okay..." He grabbed both of her hands, holding one of each in his. "Madelyn Joyce Stark, c-can we do this properly? If I ask for your dad's permission, w-will you please be my girlfriend?" The use of her full name had never sounded so fulfilling.

"Go ask dad, Peter." Despite the sarcasm in her voice, they both understood that the answer was yes. They continued eating their lunch as normal and Elly returned to the lab afterward to finish her work for the day. Peter had gone back to the training room, this time just for some peace of mind while he lifted some weights. Elly had said to be honest to Mr. Stark, but he was so concerned if that would really be enough for him. He hadn't even been fully able to express his feelings to Elly, how was he going to face her _dad_? Thinking things over was not helping, Peter decided. Finishing up his set, he took a quick shower and changed into street clothes before making his way up to the lab. After exiting the elevator, it took everything in him to not go straight to Elly's workspace and hug her to ease his nerves. But he knew that he needed to face Tony Stark sooner rather than later.

"Uh, M-Mr. Stark?" Tony turned to see the kid fidgeting uncontrollably with the hem of his shirt. "I came to talk to you."

"Whatcha got for me, kid?" Him arms were once again folded over his chest, emphasizing the glow of his arc reactor. Tony's face was stone cold with eyebrows raised expectantly. Peter took a deep breath before locking eyes with his mentor.

"Mr. Stark, I just have to be honest. I-I can't guarantee the future, but I am going to do everything in my power to protect her. The only thing that is for certain is that I-I have feelings for your daughter a-and I would like to ask for your blessing in dating Elly." Silence. A deafening silence. Tony's lips pursed into a hard line as he tried to think of reasons to deny the boy.

"You are aware that Elly will be turning eighteen soon and is attending ESU in the fall, right? How do you plan on handling that?" Long before Tony had even asked this question, it had been constantly plaguing Peter. He had thankfully been able to give it some thought, but could only hope his response would be good enough.

"I plan on being with Elly for as long as she'll have me. I want to celebrate her accomplishments, you know with her academic scholarship and all, and I want to be there for a milestone birthday. I-I just want to be there for her and be a part of her life." Peter said with assurance. It was clear to him now that this was what he wanted. Tony nodded before putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"This is off the record kid and don't let this go to your head, but I haven't seen her glow like this in a long time. She was really hurt when she lost her friend, and I don't ever want to see her like that ever again. So you already know, if you screw this up, I will make sure you hurt as much as she has." Peter gave a light gulp but nodded. "Other than that, you have my permission." Tony wanted to say that he was gritting his teeth as he spoke, but that would be a lie. He knew Peter had nothing but good intentions, as he did for his own family.

"R-really? Thanks, Mr. Stark!" Without thinking, Spider-Man gave Tony a hug before running off to the other side of the lab to his now official girlfriend. As soon as he got close enough to her, he tackled Elly. The wind was knocked out of her but she thankfully didn't fall to the ground.

"What the—?!" She felt Peter's arms squeeze around her middle; he was completely engulfing her. "Peter! Jesus, what's gotten into you?"! He finally let her go, allowing her turn to face him.

"He said yes!" It took a minute for the words to process in her mind. "Your dad said yes, Elly!"

"Really?!" Her arms wrapped around his shoulders as they embraced in excitement. It was strange for her. A person as hidden as her to be wrapping her arms around a boy who lived a double life, as her first relationship. The excitement had finally subsided and Peter settled with his arm faintly touching Elly's lower back as she saved and closed her files that she was working on.

"Hey, I wanted to look at that." He pouted.

"It's supposed to be a surprise, Peter." Though the files were already close, he persisted in trying to sneak a peek. "Nice try, Parker. Are you ready to go?" He nodded in response. Elly got up from her desk and walked over to her dad's side of the lab to grab her keys from him. At first, Elly said nothing to him, just watching him work. As she watched, her mind took over as his fingers tightened various gears on a cannon he was working on. The manual labor he put into his suit, the labor he was putting into being Iron Man, made her think of her mom's absence. She'd already been gone a week—not needing to present to see all the work Tony was doing. Her absence proved that her mom never actually _saw_ how much was going into protecting their little family; just how hard he was trying for _them._ "Hey, dad?" Tony looked over at the two teenagers. "Thank you. For everything." Elly wrapped her arms around her father, squeezing as if he was going to disappear from her life too. The expression on his face softened immediately before he tucking an arm around his child.

"Anything for you, Madelyn." The use of her name for the second time today, filled her heart with warmth.

* * *

 **Author Note:** Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Cause we're in love, I just don't know it yet.**_

 _ **VI.**_

* * *

Today was a big day, for Elly and even more so for Peter. Today, sixteen years ago, Peter Parker was brought into the world. Despite their relationship only being less than a week old,. She wanted to do something special for him. She would feel awful if she didn't. So Elly had made dinner reservations earlier on in the week, essentially just after she had dropped Peter off the day they had made things official. Now, here she sat directly across from him with his aunt May to his right and Tony Stark to his left. For some unfathomable reason, Elly thought it would be a great idea into a familial affair. Her dad proved her wrong when he kept hitting on May. Multiple times, Elly kicked him from under the table, silently asking her father to stop embarrassing her and Peter. He wouldn't. May almost seemed completely oblivious, to which Elly was incredibly thankful for. Dinner was coming to a close as their server brought over a slice of Tiramisu with a singular candle stuck in it.

"Make a wish, Peter!" Aunt May cheered softly as the dessert was placed in front of him. Absentmindedly, his hand reached for Elly's across the table as he blew out the candle. Desserts for the rest of the group arrived and chatter continued until Tony closed their check, ready to head back home to swamp himself with more work, no doubt.

"Happy birthday, kid." He said with a small genuine smile, patting Peter on his back. "And it was wonderful to see you again, May. Hopefully I'll see you soon." Elly pretended not to see the wink that her dad had just given. Tony turned to his daughter, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you at home, squirt. Love you."

"Love you too, dad."

"Thanks for dinner, Mr. Stark!" Peter called after Tony's already retreating frame.

"Mm, so do you two have any plans after this?" May asked, swallowing a bit of cake.

"Uh..." Peter looked to Elly with questioning brows.

"I mean, it's a bit late already, May. Unless you're giving me permission to kidnap him for the night." The Stark daughter responded with a chuckle, entirely joking.

"Sure, if you want to. I want Peter to spend his birthday with how he wants it." The boy's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets in shock—did his aunt seriously just give him permission to be with his girlfriend all night?

"W-wait, May, I was kidding. I-I'm sure you two have some trad—" May shook her head and waved her hands up.

"No, no. It's totally okay. It's the first time Peter has ever gotten to spend a birthday with his girlfriend. It's the first time he's ever even _had_ a girlfriend; I just want him to do what makes him happy. Just let me know what you two end up doing, and I'm gonna head home!" Elly finally noticed that her mouth was hanging wide open, shock flowing through her veins. Was that a normal parenting tactic, or was aunt May just being super nonchalant? It was strange to Elly and, judging by the look on Peter's face, it was foreign to him too. But May was already gone and left the couple alone.

"Uhh...okay…?" Peter had finally spoke. "Well. D-did you have any other ideas for us tonight?" He tried to ask casually but felt his awkwardness cause his voice to tremble.

"I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to watching a movie or something. Or—ooh, I know!" Elly reached into her purse to grab her car keys, nearly rushing out the door. Peter followed after her, incredibly confused.

"What's the hurry?" He asked as they got into her white Audi.

"Nothing, actually. I just came up with a great idea though! Let's go back to the Tower and watch a movie or take a nap or something while we wait."

"Take a nap?" He couldn't hide the incredulous tone in his voice.

"Yeah, I have a plan. But it's still only nine, and if were going to do this the way I'm imagining it, we have to do it later tonight." Elly had been so excited for her plan that she hadn't realized that her words sounded borderline dirty. And, while he knew she hadn't intended for it come out that way, nerves began to fill Peter's gut. Should he say something? Or should he just wait and play it cool and pretend that his blood didn't just start rushing? Quickly weighing out his options, he easily chose the latter. Elly had filled the interior of her car with sounds of quick working acoustic guitars and a raspy voice as she made her way back home.

"No EDEN tonight?" He commented. She had been playing the same artist for the place month, it was a little surprising to hear her put on something else.

"Nope," Her lips popped on the last syllable for emphasis. "Not yet, I'm feeling rebellious tonight. Johnny Hobo always gets me riled up." She was singing along, not even attempting to sing in key and somehow managed to harmonize with the track, spewing words of anarchy with the artist. It was a different side of Elly that he was observing; she was always so collected and prim and proper—grooming from her parents no doubt. She was sarcastic and playful but the girl beside him had a fire in her soul and Peter had never been so intrigued in another human. They arrived back at the Tower relatively quickly, thanks to the lack of traffic. The anticipation of Elly showing him one of her favorite places gave her a revitalized energy.

"Okay, you're making me nervous with this surprise. What's the plan tonight?" He had asked as they took the elevator to the fourth floor of the Tower, which gave him no hints. All he knew was that the family office was on this floor.

"It's a surprise, duh. I can't tell you!" She teased, though she grabbed his hand and entwined her fingers with his to help ease his tension. "Just trust me, okay? I promise it's nothing super extravagant and definitely not something to freak over." They strolled through the hall hand in hand, stopping outside of first door on the right. Elly pulled open the door on flicked on dim lights. The entrance lead to another hallway before spilling into a home theater.

"H-holy shit, this is awesome!" Peter remarked, bee-lining for the short rows of extravagant theater chairs. He picked the center seat in the row furthest in the back. "These recline?!" He exclaimed as he discovered the lever and immediately made himself comfortable. His excitement brought laughter to Elly's lips without fail. While he was geeking out over the home theater, Elly was setting up the projector with A.A.R.O.N.'s help to pull up the first Harry Potter movie. After the feature had started, she had taken the seat to the right of him, reclining back and curling into his side. Peter's instinct kicked in as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Thank you, by the way." He whispered, looking down at _his girlfriend_. It still felt foreign to him to call her that. "For spending my birthday with me, and thinking to include aunt May."

"Of course, Peter. She's family, and it's not that hard to tell that family is just as important to you as it is to me." His heart skipped a beat, noticing the way she said family sounded so inclusive. As if they were already one big happy family. Instead of speaking further, Peter pressed his lips into her hairline before turning his attention back to the screen. Elly's cheeks burned softly at the sweet gesture but she kept her eyes focused on the movie. An hour had lapsed by the time he heard a gentle snore coming from his girl's nose, making him grin in amusement. He refused to wake her even long after the movie had ended and opted to sit with his thoughts and enjoy her company. Without prompting, the projector rolled the following Harry Potter movie in sequence—Elly had slept through the movie in its entirety, but he wouldn't tell her that.

* * *

"Elly~" He hummed softly after the movie had come to end. "The movie's over." A small groan escaped her lips as she lifted her head off of his shoulder.

"Shit, what time is it?"

"Almost two in the morning." Elly perked right up, standing from the theater seat slightly rushed.

"Perfect! Let's get going." Before Peter could ask a single question, she was exiting the theater. There was a bit of pep in her step as she headed towards the elevator.

"Are you gonna tell me where we're going?"

"Nowhere." She chimed as they exited the elevator and got back into her car. Once again, the gruff voice of Johnny Hobo played on the speakers and Elly began singing along. This time, the windows were down as they lulled through the streets, allowing the cool summer evening air blowing around their hair. "Have you ever seen the city during dead hour?" She asked. Peter shook his head, making Elly smile. "This used to be one of my favorite things to do. Just drive up towards the pier and cruise around the city, listening to music. It's about a two and a half hour round trip." Already, Peter could see the beauty of New York City lights as they merged onto the freeway.

"I almost wish I had a camera." He mumbled to himself as he watched the city go by.

"A.A.R.O.N., please activate windshield cam." A faint red light began to glow around the rim of the windshield after an affirmative beep was heard. "Now we can watch this very moment back on my phone."

"Woah, that's amazing! Do you have any older videos from when you used to do this?" Elly grew quiet, debating whether or not she should tell him.

"This is something Rebecca and I would always do." She murmured, ultimately deciding that there was no reason to keep her past life a secret to Peter. "She would be having one of her episodes and the only thing I could ever really do to get her away from drugs was to take her on these drives." He listened very intently, unsure of what to say. "Despite all those long, crappy nights—I always made sure to appreciate the beauty of home."

"It's peaceful. It's hard not to see the beauty of home when it's like this." Peter said as he mindlessly reaching for Elly's hand closest to him. A slight grin touched her lips as the word home ran through her mind.

"I like you, Peter." She responded, squeezing his hand for emphasis. "I don't think I got to actually tell you that the other day."

"I think you might have failed to mention that. Maybe say it again, just in case." He teased. Elly rolled her eyes; he could tell from the illumination of the dashboard lights.

"Just in case I wasn't entirely clear then, I like you. I like the feeling I get when I'm around you, like I can just be me, whoever that is. I feel like I am free to discover who I am as an individual without repercussions or judgment."

"Are you not allowed to do that without me?" He asked, genuinely curious. While still trying to focus her attention on the road, she looked at him with offended eyes.

"Peter, my dad keeps my car keys so I don't sneak out anymore. Nobody at school even knew my real name. I wasn't allowed to join any after school activities, I never got to go to any of the dances, nothing. It was strictly go to school and go home." It was a sad life to outsiders looking in, but Elly never wanted to appear ungrateful. Her dad was great, her mom was great, and sure, she never had to worry about a single payment for the rest of her life. But none of that was worth not having individuality—it wasn't worth _just_ being Tony Stark's daughter and being under constant assessment by the few people that knew of her existence. She wanted to be whoever Madelyn Joyce Stark was _meant_ to be.

"Well, now when you come home, I'll be there."

"Coming home to Spider-Man? Sounds like a dream."

"Glad I can make your dreams come true." Peter gripped her hand just a little bit tighter, offering genuine words but left the conversation as is. The music began to take over the volume of the vehicle. The view of the pier coming into sight cause memories to flood back into Elly's mind. It was almost as if she were sixteen again riding around with her best friend, smoking cigarettes and dreaming of better days. Better days had finally come, but _she_ was gone. "El, you okay?" Peter asked carefully. She gave a few hard, rapid blinks before turning to him with slightly furrowed brows.

"Yeah, why?"

"You're crying." Elly let go of his hand, immediately wiping away tears she hadn't realized had fallen.

"Yeah I just...I haven't made this drive since the funeral. Just kind of feels like she's here right now." Peter was itching to feel the warmth of her hand clasping his once again, but she was still wiping her tears so he settled with placing a hand on her thigh to offer her comfort.

"Hey, Rebecca. I-I'm Peter. I'm dating your best friend now, so I guess that kinda makes us friends, right?" He said carefully, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. Elly looked at him confusion, wondering if he was going crazy to think there was somebody in the car. Or maybe he was really talking to her late best friend. She hoped Rebecca could hear him. "I just wanted to say that Elly is amazing. She's smart, and funny, and really talented, and beautiful, a-and I'm sure you miss her. She misses you a lot." Sobs began to wrack through Elly's chest as she listened to his every word. She was doing her best to focus on the roads, but the tears welling in her eyes blurred her vision. Her gut was telling her to pull over; it ended up bringing them to the parking lot of the pier. As soon as she parked the car, Elly put her head on the steering wheel, not wanting Peter to see her makeup staining her cheeks as she bawled. "Elly? Anything you want to say to her?" His voice came as a whisper. She hadn't even realized that he was unbuckled until she felt both of his strong arms engulfing her frame.

"Y-yeah." She sniffled at an attempt to clear the mucus from her voice. "I hate you, bitch. Making me cry and shit. I actually felt cute today!" Elly laughed awkwardly, not an ounce of hatred backing her malicious words. Silently, she shrugged Peter off of her before reaching for the glove compartment. She pulled out a nearly full pack of menthol cigarettes and a lighter. "Sorry to ruin the rest of her birthday, Peter. I thought I could handle doing this for you." He just looked at her in wonder, watching as she took a drag of her freshly lit smoke. Her hands were beginning to tremble less, he noticed, with every exhale.

"It's not ruined, Elly. I got to talk to your best friend, finally. She said misses you, by the way." She gave a half smile and reached for his hand with her empty one. They sat still for a brief second, just watching the reflection of lights in the water dance in the moonlight.

"I am sorry, though. This night wasn't supposed to be about me, I shouldn't have taken you on this drive." She said, barely loud enough to be heard over the rough acoustic strumming.

"D-don't be. Really. You shared something so private with me, something that's hard for you to talk about and it just makes me feel like you trust me and you actually want to spend time with me."

"I do trust you and I do want to spend time with you." Elly pointed out. She flicked her cigarette out the window before partially turning to face him. "Thank you for letting me be me."

"I don't want anything less, Elly. I-I want you." Overwhelmed with emotion, her hands wrapped around Peter's neck before bringing him in for a kiss. A real kiss; not a peck on the cheek or a chaste press on the lips. A kiss that had Elly's emotions flowing through them, and he could feel every ounce of her. He felt her sadness, her passion, her confusion—every bit of it. Peter kissed back with urgency, his lips instantly swelling due to the force. He hoped she could feel what he was feeling in that moment. The joy, the adoration, and the pride he felt being able to call her his. His fingers threaded into her wavy brown locks as her tongue licked at his lower lip, attempting to deepen the kiss. Elly pulled him closer until they were nearly chest to chest while his tongue meshed with hers. She was the first to pull away after what had only felt like seconds to take a breath, her forehead resting on his.

"L-let's go home." She mumbled, attempting to turn her attention back to the steering wheel to hide her forming blush. Peter wouldn't let her. Instead of allowing her to turn away, he placed a hand gingerly on her cheek, guiding her lips back to his. He didn't want their first kiss to leave her feeling embarrassed, ashamed, or anything of the sort. He was unsure if he succeeded upon seeing the confused look contorting her facial features as he pulled away.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Probably not the most attractive thing, kissing a smoker." Cigarettes had been a habit Elly had picked up from hanging out with her late best friends, and had only worsened with her passing. She still did her best to keep it hidden so her parents would never know, only smoking when her emotions became unbearable.

"It's kinda funny. I've been wondering why you _always_ smelled a little minty even though you weren't chewing gum or anything, and now I have my answer." Elly burst into laughter at his response; she should have figured he would say something was just _so_ characteristically Peter. His hand found hers once again, cradling it in reassurance. "Let's go see the rest of the city." He said after her laughter died down. Elly nodded before backing away from the pier and merging onto the freeway once again.

"Okay, so now let's turn on EDEN, cruise, and watch the city lights go by." They did absolutely just that. Peter's breath was caught in his lungs as viewed their home in a new light. Dimly lit yellows and blues rolled by them, giving life to the city. A small smile touched Peter's lips as the red light around the windshield caught his brown eyes—A.A.R.O.N. had never once stopped recording. He would be able to forget his sixteenth birthday.

* * *

 **Author Note:** Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.


	7. Chapter 7

_**I got way too many routes to take to make this all just go away.**_

 _ **VII.**_

* * *

It was the third week of June. Elly had finally completed the Spider-Suit and, after some fine tuning tweaks from her father, it was finally packed away for Peter to use. Her dad and him had flown off to Germany for some big Avengers mission involving the Sokovia Accords. In his absence, he had been video calling Elly and keeping a small video diary as much as he could. Currently, Happy Hogan was rushing him into his hotel room while telling him to suit up. The very disgruntled Happy brought Peter to the common space of his hotel room upon seeing him in his ragtag hoodie and tights, revealing a large metal suitcase. He gave the young Spider-Man two minutes to get changed into his long awaited suit. Atop the silver suitcase was a small, handwritten note that read, "A minor upgrade for you, babe" with MJS signed in beautiful calligraphy. In his mind, he could hear her sarcastic tone and all he wanted in this moment was to call her and show her what the suit looked like on. However, he was once again being ushered by Happy and he never got the chance.

Elly was currently sitting at home trying her best to be productive, but she was just _so bored_. With her dad being gone, she was technically free from work. She answered office phone calls, despite not having to, and nearly all of those calls ended up in her taking a message since she was unsure of her when her father would return. She cleaned the fourth and fifth floors that belonged to the Stark family time and time again. Elly had drawn up more upgrades for Iron Man and Spider-Man and even humored herself in making her own rendition of an Iron Man suit for herself that she had wanted to show to her dad and boyfriend. But aside from that, she felt she was lacking inspiration and creativity. She was bored and she was missing Peter.

Their days were full of such laughter that lifted up Elly's spirits that felt she had felt as if something were missing while he was gone. Every morning, she would pick him up to start their work day. They would spend their lunch together, talking about the progress and processes of their internship. Their nights were spent playing video games or watching movies together in the Stark family home theater. Every day seemed to start and end with Peter, and not knowing when he was going to be back was killing her. Since his departure, Elly often found herself curled up on the couch alone watching TV or a variety of YouTube videos serving as background noise as she sipped on tea with her leather bound sketchbook in her lap while she continued designs for her own suit. Tonight was one of those nights. Her eyes were dancing with fatigue as they fought to focus on the current episode of Stranger Things that she was attempting to watch. Sleep seemed to be winning until her phone started blaring the last verse of Taking Back Sunday's "You're So Last Summer", signifying Peter was finally able to call. As soon as she answered, he was babbling away in excitement.

"Elly! Elly, oh my god the most amazing thing happened to me. So your dad was all like 'Hey, underoos!' and I just kind of flipped in and was like 'sup everybody' and I stole Captain America's shield and—hey just a second! Coming!" Peter literally had not taken a breath since Elly picked up the video chat, and she wondered how on earth he could talk so fast, let alone do a back flip off of his bed while he was laying on his stomach. Elly was able to see Happy enter his room in a robe, gripe about the thin walls before disappearing from her view again. Peter rushed back to his phone, his vibrant smile still glued to his face. "Anyway, thank you so much for the suit Elly, it's awesome. I would have called you sooner but I didn't get a chance to." She chuckled softly at his uncontainable elation.

"It's fine, Peter. So you stole uncle Steve's shield. What else happened today?" He began giving Elly a run down of everything she had missed. She tried her best to picture everyone that was there, though a couple of descriptions sounded unfamiliar. She gather her uncle Clint was also a part of the battle, which made her just a little melancholy. She hadn't seen him or his family in a while, and now she was questioning when the next time would even be. When Peter got to the part in the story where he tangled some giant guy's legs like in Empire Strikes Back, Elly was shaking with laughter.

"That's pretty funny. I can't wait to see all of the videos you took in Germany."

"I can't wait until we go home. I miss you." The vivacious conversation had died down with those words—reality setting in and bringing them the realization that this is the longest they had been apart.

"I miss you too. Any idea when you and dad are going to be back?"

"I-I'm not sure yet. I'd talk to him but he's been pretty tense since Captain America got away." A soft, disappointed sigh left Elly's lips.

"I don't doubt that. I wish I was with you guys instead. I'm so freakin' bored." Elly had picked up the art of diversion from her father, learning to immediately change the subject to something inclusive instead of sad.

"Germany would have been awesome to see with you."

"We'll go, one day." Another thing she had learned from her dad—explore the world as often as possible. Though this exact scenario wasn't quite what he meant, she had only learned through observation. Any time Tony was out somewhere without Pepper, he always promised to take her back there. They talked some more, mostly one what Elly had been doing while the men in her life were away, which felt like a whole lot of nothing. "I'm gonna go to bed, babe. I can hardly keep my eyes open."

"Aw, okay. I miss you, and I'll see you soon, okay love? Good night."

"Night, Peter." Elly ended the call, hoping the video screen cut off before he could see her rising blush. Him calling her love as he had been the past week made her heart swell and burst. Deciding to crash on the couch, like she had been doing since the Towers been empty, she closed her eyes once again.

* * *

Elly awoke the next morning with a crick in her neck, most likely from sleeping on the couch. First thing she did was check her phone; Peter had sent her nearly a dozen photos of him running around Germany with her dad, each photo bringing a smile to her lips. She started her day as normal—eating breakfast, getting a good work out in the training room, and headed up to the lab to work on her private project. The miniature suit Elly had created for herself was over halfway completed. All that was left was the chest plate and helmet, with the latter being the most time consuming piece she was going to need. "I'm home, honey!" Elly hadn't realized the elevator doors opened until she saw Tony walking towards her. The first thing she noticed was the scrapes and bruises all over her dad. "What's wrong?" He asked very carefully, taking note of the perplexed look on his daughter's face.

"D-dad? W-what happened to you?" Tony became very quiet, his lips pursed as if he were in pain.

"Rogers happened. I told him I was trying to keep us all together, he chose his friend. He didn't choose us, he didn't choose you like we chose him. I'm sorry, honey." Elly nodded in understanding before wrapping her arms around her dad's torso, a singular tear streaming down her face at the harsh truth. She understood how much this hurt him, as well as her.

"You've got me and mom, dad." She mumbled into his chest.

"Nah, I got _you_ kiddo." Tony hugged his daughter back as tight as he possibly could. They stood in their embrace in the absence of sound until he pulled away, looking at Elly's workspace. "So I see you started a project. What on earth have you been doing?" There was her dad's master deflection skills shining through. He picked up her leather bound sketchbook that Peter had given her what felt like ages ago. His eyes landed on the junior Iron Man designs. "What, you want to be just like dad?" Tony joked.

"Pshh, I would be way cooler than Iron Man." Elly had walked up beside him, proudly showing the sketches she had worked on. Tony tapped his fingers on his chin.

"I don't know, Iron Girl or Iron Lady would never sound right." He teased.

"I mean, mom was named Rescue and I loved that." The slightest frown touched her dad's lips. It became obvious then that Elly was missing her mom, causing Tony's guilt to resurface.

"Peacekeeper." Was all Tony said. Elly raised her eyebrows at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain further. "You always kept the peace between me and your mother, a-and it's my fault she's not here." Silence blanketed over them. Elly had never seen her dad in such a vulnerable state, and she almost felt the need to coddle him.

 _"_ Dad...where is she?" Elly inquired quietly.

"We're on a break." Tony replied earnestly after a brief pause. "She asked me to stop being Iron Man; that I need to be here more for you and her. But I don't want to stop—I _can't_ stop trying to protect you two." His head hung ever so slightly in shame at the admission.

"I get it, pops. Mom will come around, I promise."

"Yeah? Can you guarantee that?"

"Yeah, knowing mom? I definitely can."

* * *

Later that night, Tony and Elly had a peaceful, intimate dinner. As much as Elly wanted to go see Peter, she knew her dad needed her company now more than ever. She needed it too. The father and daughter shared many laughs, ending their night playing on their virtual reality gaming consoles in their living room and forgetting the pain they were sharing. After the system was turned off, they sat without speaking to each other and allowed tension to fill the room. "Can I ask you something?" Asked Elly. Her voice was calm and confident despite the nerves that filled her stomach.

"Of course, honey. What's up?" Tony felt anxious too. He loved spending time with his daughter, but the way she spoke was a very avid reminder of her mother. Pepper always sounded threatening when she opened conversation with such a vague question.

"Let's have honesty hour." She declared. "You said you and mom were on a break. I-is it in any way my fault?" The question left Tony stunned.

"Of course not, Elly. It's mine and I know it is. Your mother and I are working on our own problems, or rather my problems. She just wants us to be a normal family." He was rambling, unsure of how to speak his truth.

"What do _you_ want?" She asked.

"I want it too. That's why we were a family up until now."

"We are a family, dad. We're just in a rough patch."

"That's...that's not how your mom feels right now. She thinks I can't be dad and Iron Man too."

"You've been doing it for the last eight years, and we've been fine."

"Tell your mom that." He muttered, feeling defeated. How his seventeen year-old daughter was giving him such a mature, stern talking to was beyond him. "But enough about that, it's my turn to parent _you_. How are you and Parker?"

"We're really good, actually. He thanked me for the suit; he called every night that he could while you guys were in Germany."

"I had a talk with him on the way back home." Elly looked at him, slightly mortified. "Nothing bad, honey. You seem…happier since you two started dating. I told him not to blow it—I don't know what I would do if your heart got broken again." _Too late for that,_ Elly thought to herself. She stayed quiet, thinking of how Peter and her dad were the only salvation she had in her current state. She was still hurting from the absence of her mom and late best friend, learning that her pseudo-family was falling apart, and the newly revealed information of her godfather and dad's best friend Rhodey being paralyzed from the waist down. Over the course of dinner, Tony had told her of Colonel Rhodes' injuries, and that was her breaking point. It felt as if her world was crumbling very slowly.

"I-I'm trying really hard, dad. To not be upset over everything that's going on but, I-I miss mom and I feel like she's not here because of me. And Uncle Steve...he's like family, or was. We all considered him to be family, and he chose Bucky over us. And Uncle Rhodey's crippled because of it. It's so much." Elly was doing her best to hold back sobs, the words falling from her tongue allowed her to acknowledge the situation as reality. As much as it hurt, she needed to prove she was strong to her father.

"I know, kid, life kind of sucks right now. But you will always have me and your mom to turn to, even if she isn't here. She also didn't leave because of you," Tony reiterated, choosing his next words carefully. "If anything, she left _for_ you, if that makes sense."

"Not at all." Elly gave an awkward chuckle to emphasize her confusion.

"Your mom doesn't want you to see her in a vulnerable state right now. Even though she's one of the strongest women I know, I mean she deals with me, after all." The Starks shared boisterous laughter, knowing that Tony spoke only the truth.

"Dad...do you love mom?" Elly knew she was treading into murky waters, but by declaration of honest hour, she hoped her dad would answer.

"Hell yeah I do." He responded without a moments hesitation.

"So how come you two never got married?"

"It just never seemed like the right time. I was planning on proposing when Rhodey and I got back from Washington that one year, and it almost felt...wrong. I wanted to make sure that you two were safe before officially announcing that the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark was married."

"And you just kept waiting for the right moment..." Elly figured. Tony nodded in agreement, pursing his lips in discomfort. It felt strange, talking to his seventeen year-old daughter about his feelings. It also made him feel lighter. "The right moment never comes, dad. You have to _make_ it the right moment."

"Gross, when did you get wise? How many romantic novels have you been reading?" He joked.

"You and your stupid deflections, pops!" Tony just laughed before patting his child on her shoulder. As the laughter died down, he took a turn to look at Elly fully. There was no more lighthearted laughter on his face.

"So now let me ask you, do you love Parker?" Unintentionally, her eyes widened and her jaw slackened, trying to put up some form of protest. Words never came out and it was then Tony had his answer. He wanted her to say it—to fully admit to someone else than just herself to prove a point.

"I-I do." She whispered.

"I know you do. But it doesn't become real until you say it out loud. Just like how I love your mom." He repeated, furthering driving his point home. A barely noticeable smirk twitched on his lips, satisfied with his parenting done for the day. "Let's get some sleep, kiddo. I gotta go check on Rhodey tomorrow, but sometime this week, let's work on your suit?"

"Sounds good. Good night, I love you. And tell Uncle Rhodey I say hi."

"Night, honey. Love you too."

* * *

Tony was gone the next morning, probably off to see Rhodey. That meant she had the day off again, but the time she spent with her dad inspired her to be productive. She didn't have much left to do on her suit and she wanted to finish as much as she could so they could test it out together. After making herself her morning iced coffee, she headed up to the empty lab. Elly got to work with renewed vigor, finishing her chest plate in under an hour. "Ms. Stark, incoming call from Spider-Boy." A.A.R.O.N announced.

"Put it throught." Peter's face popped up on her lab screen, bright sunlight illuminating his features while her hands were still keeping busy.

"Hey, Elly! I had May drop me off today. Are you up in the lab?" From what she could tell, he was walking into the tower, his backpack slung over his shoulders as always.

"Yeah, I'm up here. But you know there's no internship today, right? It's just me here."

"Oh, y-yeah. I know, I figured that was okay but I guess I should have asked you if I could come over first." Peter stopped in his tracks as he entered the lobby of the compound, the excitement he once had diminishing. Elly could see his crestfallen features, immediately filling her with guilt.

"N-no, that's not what I meant! I-I just didn't want you to expect to have training with Nat or something. But come on up, I have a surprise for you." The line went dead, leaving Peter to his solidarity as he made his way up to the lab. He'd come to know that surprises from Elly were typically a good thing, and anxiety no longer came to him when she said she had one for him. When he exited the elevator, he was presented with an Iron Man suit that was dark blue and gold.

"W-what is this?" Peter asked with half a laugh in amazement.

"A little project I've been working on while you've been away. What do you think?" Elly walked towards him, the clinking of her jet boots resonating in the empty lab. The incomplete helmet covering her head retracted, and Peter was finally presented with the face of the girl he had been missing.

"That is amazing!" He exclaimed as Elly grabbed her wrist to retract her suit. His arms wrapped around his girlfriend who was left in only a long tank top that covered the shorts she was wearing underneath. "I missed you so much." Said Peter before pressing a warm kiss to her forehead.

"I missed you too. Now you have got to show me the video diary from your trip!" The two laughed, each taking a seat at her workspace and began watching his little home movie on her mini projector screen. They spent the rest of the day together; Peter helped her engineer the rest of her helmet, grabbed a bunch of snacks throughout their time together and filled their night with love and laughter. Day eventually gave way to night and the two ended their evening sitting on the roof of the Tower, looking at the twinkling lights of the city. "Peter? Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, of course, Elly." He said with confidence. Similar to her saying she had a surprise, her saying she had a question to start a conversation no longer filled his gut with anxiety.

"What are we going to do when I start college?"

"W-what do you mean?" He had spoken too soon. While he knew this talk was bound to happen, he hadn't expected it to be so soon. They'd been together for less than a month and he'd just gotten back from Germany—he thought he had at least until the end of the summer.

"I mean, you're sixteen and going to be a sophomore in high school and I'm going to be eighteen in less than two months and a freshman in college. A-and I wouldn't ever want to keep our relationship a secret because that's not fair to you but if someone were to find out that Tony Stark's daughter was dating someone that wasn't the legal age of consent, who knows what could happen and—" Somewhere in the last couple of months they had spent together, Elly had adopted Peter's habit for rambling when nervous, as she was doing now. But he cut her off, instantly recognizing what she was doing.

"Let's just...cross that bridge when we get there? I don't want to think about that right now." Elly closed her mouth tightly, but ultimately agreed in the form of a nod. He was right; they still had time and they should enjoy it. Little did she know, the inevitable end never left Peter's mind.

* * *

 **Author Note:** Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Endless nights, we were infinite.**_

 _ **Summer's end would mean the death of us.**_

 _ **VIII.**_

* * *

As promised, Elly and Peter never talked about the impending end of their relationship. Instead, they did their best to fulfill a makeshift bucket list to count down the days until Elly's birthday. Each day, internship or not, was filled with a brand new adventure. They were such simple things like a movie marathon for an entire twenty four hours or going to the beach or a concert. Elly's birthday was the following day, her first week of college was on Monday, and every second that they spent together was not enough. Both of them were afraid of the conversation that needed to happen, but Peter refused to let it ruin the dinner plans he made for her tonight. Even so, he couldn't stop fidgeting with the watch on his left wrist as he waited for Elly, Tony, and much to his surprise, Pepper at the table. According to Elly, she had finally gathered the courage to call her mother and convince her to come back to the Tower in small doses.

Pepper and Tony finally had talked things out, agreeing that being together was what their little family needed, and that had helped Elly substantially. Even with such great things happening with her family and her happiness, Peter felt it almost wasn't his place to be included as a contribution. Because even as wonderful as the last three months had been, they both knew it would all end with the summer. May noticed how much he was fussing around with whatever he could get his hands on, causing concern in her to arise. "Peter, everything okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." He mumbled, not making eye contact with her.

"You don't fool me, you know." Peter groaned internally, knowing his aunt wouldn't let up. Either that, or his anxiety was gnawing at him so much that he wanted to believe his aunt was going to pressure him into talking about it.

"I-I'm not ready for today to be over. Because after this, her internship is over and Elly and I are going to over a-and that scares me. I have spent seventy two days with Elly from sunrise to sunset and I don't know what I'm going to do after today. She's become such a normal part of my day to day life that I-I don't know if I can go back to being normal after this." Before he had realized it, he was crying. He wanted to say so much more, but words were failing at conveying how he really felt. May looked at her nephew, sympathetic of his breaking heart.

"Peter, it doesn't matter how many days it has been. It's, um..." May paused, treading cautiously with her next words. "It's dangerous, to create homes out of people—to feel like you are only your best self when you are with that person. I know that better than anyone. Because when they're gone, it will always feel like you're homesick." A single tear slid down May's cheek as well, her late husband's face flashing through her memories. On the one hand, she was glad she was able to share her expertise on the subject. On the other, she had almost wished Peter never had to feel as homesick as she did. "But I will tell you one thing. In my experience, it's impossible to _not_ create homes out of the people you love." The 'L word' hit Peter hard, his eyes wide open as he gawked at May. But he didn't rebuttal because he knew she was right.

Seventy two days, not including the week he had spent in Germany apart of from her, was all it took for Peter to fall in love with Elly. Seventy two days of her smile, her laugh, her smarts, her wit, her composure, her presence, and her vulnerability. He was homesick already.

* * *

The Stark family finally arrived, each of them dressed to the nines. Elly was glowing and all smiles as she greeted May and gave Peter a brief peck on the lips that ended all too quickly. All five of them were gathered at the round table, with Peter on Elly's left hand side and her dad to her right. Joyous giggles filled their group as she talked about how excited she was to start her classes at Empire State University. Her enthusiasm simultaneously filled Peter with both dread and pride. Throughout the night, May was playing double agent. She was trying to show support to Elly in her journey into college, but also kept a close eye on Peter to make sure his heart didn't shatter.

As dessert arrived, Peter felt his internal clock ticking down the minutes and he hated every second of it. Still, his facade never slipped as he celebrated his soon to be ex-girlfriend's blowing of her birthday candles. The evening was coming to a close, and to prolong it by just mere minutes, Peter excused himself to the washroom to gather his thoughts before everyone went their separate ways. Nobody thought anything of it, and nobody thought anything of it when Tony excused himself as well short after. Upon entering the mens room, he saw Peter splashing water on his face, taking note of his swollen eyes. "You got a second, kid?"

"Uh, yeah." Peter tried to sound put together in front of his boss, making his voice just a bit deeper. But, judging by the unsettled look on Tony's face, he wasn't succeeding.

"I just want to say you have made my daughter so incredibly happy this past summer. But you know what's coming, and I need to get something off my chest." Subconsciously, he tapped on his arc reactor. "Don't ever stop choosing Elly."

"W-what?"

"You heard me. I had to break my own kid's heart after we got back from Germany and tell her her own uncle chose an old friend over family—over _her_. I know you guys have to do this because of age of consent and all, but don't ever stop choosing her."

"M-Mr. Stark? I-I don't...I don't understand." Tony sighed, unsure of how to phrase his words to properly convey the message he wanted to give.

"Things are going to be mess, kid. And it's going to be really hard for a while. But if you love my daughter like she loves you, choose to make decisions with her well-being in mind, even after tonight." With that, Tony exited the restroom, leaving Peter awestruck. He would be lying if he said he completely understood his boss' words. But he didn't question it and, instead, focused on keeping those words close to his soul. _Don't ever stop choosing her._

Peter had felt his heart grow heavier as he returned to the table. Pepper and Tony were giving Elly elegantly wrapped gift boxes, which she gladly opened. May put a hand on Peter's shoulder as they watched—instantly noticing his ashen face. "She will love it." May whispered in encouragement. In response, he grabbed her hand with one his and squeezed it. If it weren't for aunt May today, or any other day really, he wasn't sure would be able to handle this situation. Pepper and Tony had given Elly a short diamond necklace paired with a black velvet choker with matching diamond studs. Though small and simple, the gesture made Peter's gift feel insignificant. But he did what he could to not let that thought bother him. His gift had sentimental value and he knew Elly well enough to know she would appreciate it.

Dinner had officially come to a close and each person had went their separate ways, save for Peter and Elly. "Hey, can we take a drive to the pier?" He asked after their families were nowhere in sight. Elly raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Usually, I'm the one asking you that, but sure thing." It was quiet as they got into her car and while Elly knew something was wrong, she couldn't bring herself to ask him what. As they started driving, the radio playing different songs that rang somber and neither of them could tell if A.A.R.O.N had been doing so intentionally. Elly's hand strayed from the steering wheel to hold his as an offering of comfort. Still, they say in silence until they arrived at the pier where they had their first kiss. "Okay, what's wrong, Peter?" She finally asked. He let go of her hand and turned to face his girlfriend while shuffling around in his pocket. He pulled out a tiny navy blue velvet box.

"I-I didn't get you anything super amazing for your birthday, but I think it's time we finally have our talk." Nerves that Elly had long forgotten filled her gut. With both hands, he peeled open the velvet box, revealing a thin rose gold ring with a small pearl set in the center. It looked incredibly delicate—something to reflect the current state of their relationship.

"O-okay." She hesitated.

"Elly, we have spent exactly seventy nine days in a relationship a-and they have been the most incredible seventy nine days. But knowing the world knows who your dad is, I-I don't want any trouble to ever come to you in the event that the public discovered I'm not the legal age of consent yet." Elly nodded very slowly, taking in his words. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she feared for the same. She was afraid of people finding out who she was and finding any spec of dirt to some form of revenge against her dad. She couldn't do that to him. "But I wanted to give you this." He says finally, holding her left hand with his right, the ring in his other.

"I-it's beautiful, Peter." Elly says in a hushed mumble as he slides the small ring on.

"I wanted to make a promise to you. I promise I will always protect you and be here for you. And the second I turn seventeen, I will come running back."

"R-really?" After placing the promise ring onto her finger, Peter cupped her cheek gingerly before pulling her into a deep kiss. It was delicate and fragile and full of the goodbyes that he didn't want to say.

"I don't want this to be the end, Elly. I really don't."

"I don't either." Peter rested his forehead onto hers with his eyes scrunched his eyes close. Slowly, they opened to stare longingly into her blue eyes. He didn't want to do this; he wasn't ready. How was Peter supposed to come home everyday, knowing that he didn't spend the entirety of his day surrounded by her warmth and support of him getting stronger? Elly was mirroring every emotion that was running through his head as tears spilled along her cheeks. While moving onto college was well and exciting, what was she supposed to come home to without him there? With trembling lips, she pulled him in for what she hoped wasn't their last kiss. Tiny gasps of air broke their lip lock as she sobbed, but neither of them dared to move away. They needed every millisecond of this last moment.

Elly threaded shaky fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, desperate to hang onto him. Their tongues laced with each other, pouring their passion into one another. Neither of them wanted to pull away, but before they said their goodbyes, she needed to tell him. "Peter, I-I love you." She sniffled, wiping away her tears before holding his hands. The glint of the pearl on her ring finger caught the light of the pier.

"I love you, Madelyn Joyce Stark." He took a leap of faith, saying those three little words he never dared to say before. But he needed to say it—he needed her to know. "In ten months, when we can finally be together again, I will come running home to you. I promise."

* * *

Two months had passed since Elly's eighteenth birthday and her and Peter had hardly spoken. College was okay, but she felt herself overwhelmed with seventeen semester hours, trying to social while commuting to school daily, and had the fortunately unfortunate task of creating a new suit for Peter per the request of her dad. She had made one friend so far in university—a spunky boy whom was also a freshman by the name of Scott Price. His relaxed attitude that accompanied both of their high stress responses to their workdload had made the two of them get along exceptionally well. He was the only comfort she had since Peter had kept their contact to minimum. Pete always said he was working on a project with Ned or out on his internship, which she knew was true since she had seen local papers of the mysterious Spider-Man. Elly had also found out from her dad about Peter's entire encounter with Vulture. That conversation ended up leading to the heartbreaking information of finding out that Peter was briefly dating now senior and Vulture's daughter, Liz Toomes, before she ended up moving to the other end of the country. Elly remembered Liz. She was beautiful and smart and popular and it was no wonder Peter fell for her. That never stopped betrayal from poisoning Elly's heart.

At the moment, Elly and Scott were sitting at a coffee shop on campus working on their chemistry assignment. They were griping over getting different answers despite using the same formula, or rather Elly was essentially tutoring him. After they both arrived to the correct answer, Elly's phone rang her usual tone of Alt-J's 'Left Hand Free'. Her mom's name flashed on the screen. "Hey mom, what's up?"

"Hey, honey. What time are you going to be home tonight? Your dad and I are calling a press conference."

"Oh, I can be home as soon as you need me to. What's the press conference for?"

"Your dad is introducing Peter as the world's newest avenger." Elly went quiet as her heart throbbed in envy.

"Understood, mom." She responded quietly before cutting off the call as to prevent her emotions from getting loose. Her best friend took an immediate notice.

"Everything okay?" The tall brunette asked.

"Y-yeah, I just have to get home for some important meeting." She lied. This time around, the administration knew of who Madelyn was, but the student body was still completely oblivious and Scott was no exception to that. "I'll see you tomorrow in chem?"

"For sure, get home safe!" Scott was all smiles, and it put Elly at temporary ease. She got into her car and headed straight home to the brand new, relocated Avenger's Tower in upstate New York, trying to focus on controlling her fidgeting instead of focusing on her nerves. It was the first time she would be seeing Peter since their break up and their lack of communication made her anxious. As soon as she got home, Elly went straight to her room to get ready for the press conference. Granted, she always sat in the front row and never went on stage. On rare occasions, she would do damage control and fake being a reporter but she was hoping she could stay far away from that tonight.

After doing her make up and pulling half of her wavy brown hair up, Elly dressed in a black halter skater dress with an open back and white pumps. She needed to slay the press conference today, if only for herself. She took the elevator up towards the floor the third to the top—a floor that was mostly used for meetings. "Oh, there you are, honey!" Pepper called out, clipboard in hand, as she went to hug her daughter.

"Hey, mom. Where's dad?"

"He is—"

"Right here!" Tony called out, walking up to the ladies of his life with arms wide open. He gave his daughter a peck on her temple before giving Pepper a kiss to her lips. It made Elly happy to see her parents getting along again, but it was only enough to temporarily distract her. "Stark family, ready to rock?" Pepper gave a laugh before heading back to the conference room, Elly in tow. More footsteps came thudding through the hall and Elly _knew_ it had to be Peter. "Oh, there they are!" She heard her dad say, causing her to walk with more ferocity. But he saw her. Only a glimpse, but he saw _her_. He wanted to chase after her, but Tony stopped him by repeatedly patting his shoulder before wrapping an arm around him. He apologized for taking away the original Spider-Man suit or something or other, but Peter would be lying if he said he was listening.

"Mr. Stark, I really—"

"You screwed the pooch, _hard_ , on this one, but then you did the right thing." For some reason, Peter felt that Tony wasn't just talking about taking away the suit anymore. After a couple poor analogies, he turned Peter slightly to face him more as they continued to walk towards the conference room. "I was wrong about you. I think with a little mentoring, you could be a real asset to the team." With a couple more pats to his shoulder, Tony's way of showing his daughter's ex affection, he let the teenager go before opening the door to the conference room. As much as Tony refused to admit it, he had grown fond of the spider-ling over time.

"T-to the team?"

"Yeah, there's about fifty reporters behind that door; real ones, not bloggers." Tony said, clicking a few buttons on his watch, opening up a fake wall. "When you're ready, why don't you try that on? And I an officially introduce the world to the newest Avenger: Spider-Man" Peter's eyes nearly fell out of his as he laid his eyes on a brand new Spider-Man suit. He began laughing nervously, mostly due to shock. _It was stunning_ , he couldn't stop staring—and he knew. He knew Elly had made it. He wasn't sure how, but the intricate detailing, the shade of navy in the fabric had Madelyn Joyce Stark written all over it.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. But I'm-I'm good."

"You're... _good?_ What do you mean, 'you're good'?"

"I-I-I mean would rather just stay on the ground, for a little while. You know, friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man. Somebody's got to look out for the little guy."

"You turning me down?" Tony asked in disbelief, taking off his signature sunglasses. "Think about this. Look at that, look at the hard work Elly put into that suit, for _you_ , kid. Last chance, yes or no?"

"No." Peter replied all too quickly. At that moment, Tony couldn't decide if he was proud of the kid or wanted to punch him in the face. His daughter had slaved over her newest creation, and he was denying her. He decided to go with the former and sucked in a breath.

"O-kay, then. Happy will, uh, take you home."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. I'll see you around." Peter walked backwards to give him and Happy a brief moment, but his eyes never left the suit his ex-girlfriend made. His heart swelled with pride and guilt, but mostly guilt. Knowing her, she put her all into doing it despite him knowing she was hurt. He turned away finally, hearing the door shut. The door was shut.

Pepper popped out of the conference room, staring at Tony who's face clearly showed a mixture of emotions. "Where's the kid?" She asked, refusing to call him by name. While Tony was fond of him, Pepper wasn't as much. Stupid kid broke her daughter's heart. "Everybody's waiting."

"You know, he actually made a really mature choice again, just surprised the heck out of me."

"Are you joking? I have a room full of people waiting for some big announcement, what are we going to tell them?" She seethed—how the hell Tony managed to screw up another press conference was beyond her.

"I got an idea. Go wait inside, I'll be in there in a minute. And make sure Madelyn's on stage for this one." Pepper's eyes widened. Their daughter was _never_ on stage at a press conference. The look of disbelief did not go amiss. "Just go, I'll be right there." He reassured, pressing a quick kiss to Pepper's forehead before she went back into the conference room grumbling to herself. "You still got that ring, Happy?"

"Are you kidding, I've been carrying this thing around for eight years!" His head of security responded excitedly, pulling out a black velvet box from his pocket.

"Perfect, it's show time." Together, Tony and Happy entered the noisy conference room, everyone instantly shouting out his name. He stood on the stage, giving a prompt wave to get everybody to quiet down. Happy stood to his right, Pepper and Elly to his left. "Thank you all, for being here today. I know everybody is expecting a big announcement and I don't want to delay anyone any further. I've been delaying this announcement for eighteen years." Confused murmurs began to buzz. Elly perked her head up, her dad's speech taking a very unexpected turn. "I would love to introduce to the world, the daughter of Virginia 'Pepper' Potts and myself—Madelyn Joyce Stark." A spotlight fell onto Elly, making her stare around the room.

"H-hi." She said quietly as her dad handed her a microphone. "I am the daughter of Pepper Potts and Tony Stark?" Elly fumbled around with words unsure of what to say and her parents knew it. Questions were firing rapidly at her, and she had no idea how to respond. Seeing her drowning at the attention, Tony took the microphone back.

"One more thing, before we take questions. I've been delaying something else that is long overdue." He held the microphone in one hand as he got down on one knee, his eyes focused on Pepper. "Honey, I haven't been a model boyfriend to you, but thanks to our wonderful, smart daughter—I want to prove to you that I will be a better husband. Hopefully I'm just as good of a husband as I am father. Virginia Potts, will you marry me?" Pepper's mouth hung wide open as her, and her daughter's, eyes both began to well with tears. A sniffle escaped her nose as she tried to hold back sobs of joy as she nodded over and over. Tony slid the ring he had held onto for all those years onto the finger of his bride-to-be before giving her a long kiss and hugging his family. A wave of confidence washed over Elly, the joy that was surging through her family was giving her strength to take the microphone from her dad.

"There you have it, folks. The Stark family. We will now take your questions!" Elly jeered, the room exploding with overlapping clamor. She was distracted by the all the talk as she held the microphone in her right hand and answering questions, all the while subconsciously spinning the rose gold promise ring on her finger. Nobody seemed to notice except for the lone, sixteen year old boy standing at the back of the room who had snuck his way into press conference. Peter had seen her. But more importantly, _she saw him._

* * *

 **Author Note:** Hiyo~ This story has already been posted to my Tumblr, Tom-Hollandaze but I figured I would share this here.


End file.
